"Death in the English Countryside" by Sara Rosett

Kate Sharp’s boss is missing in England. Kate works for a Los Angeles-based scouting firm that finds locations and settings for movies. Her boss was in England scouting locations for a new film production of Pride and Prejudice. The firm isn’t big, but it is well known in the film industry. As his personal assistant, Kate is dispatched to England to find him. Both she and the office manager suspect he went on a bender; he’s been known to do it before. This has to be done quietly, to avoid industry gossip and the client finding out. 

Once there, she follows his final movements. Helping her is Alex Norcutt, the photographer who’d accompanied him on his visits to various homes and estates. Norcutt is also an American, and Kate is honest enough with herself to find she’s attracted to him. Their efforts to find the boss ultimately prove successful. They first find his rental car, submerged in a river near a picturesque bridge. Then the police find his body downstream. And the autopsy shows he’s been murdered.

Sara Rosett

The detective inspector investigating the crime seems of a mind to believe Kate and Alex are involved in the death. He cautions her to be careful of anyone who might be involved. Including Alex.

Death in the English Countryside by Sara Rosett is the story of Kate, Alex, and the people of Nether Woodsmoor, a village of cottages and hills that seems right out of a Jane Austen novel. It’s a mystery with a slight tough of romance and a goodly dose of Jane Austen. 

Rosett has written seven mysteries in the Murder on Location series, of which Death in the English Countryside is the first. She’s also written five novels in the High Society Lady Detective series, seven in the On the Run series, and 10 in the Ellie Avery series. She also teaches an online course, “How to Outline a Cozy Mystery.”

Death in the English Countryside is an entertaining tale of the movie location business, a small English village, and a surprisingly wide array of suspects. You might think of an English village straight out of a Jane Austen novel somewhat idyllic, but you would be surprised.