Christopher Prentiss’s older brother Albert is getting married to his great love Cassandra Fairfax. It’s the uniting of two great families, the Cranleys, led by Christopher and Albert’s grandfather Lord Edgington, and the Fairfaxes, headed by the duke and duchess of Hinwick. An old Fairfax tradition is that, the night before the marriage, the groom and his party stay with the bride’s family, while the bride and her party stay with the groom’s family.
Albert, Christopher and Lord Edgington, with a considerable portion of Lord Edington’s staff in tow (he never leaves home without them) travel to the Fairfax estate. In addition to her parents, the bride has three unmarried brothers. Not long after their arrival, the Cranley men discover that the Fairfax family is, well, rather odd, with undercurrents flowing through the evening. Tensions are heightened by the arrival of Cassandra’s former suitor and the girlfriend of the oldest Fairfax son.
And the undercurrents bear fruit. Early the next morning, Christopher is awakened by a scream. The Duchess of Hinwick is at the bottom of the stairs, a jeweled knife stuck in her back. And all the clues point to Christopher’s brother Albert as the murderer.
Benedict Brown
Blood on the Banisters is the tenth Lord Edgington mystery by Benedict Brown, all set in the 1920s. Because, like its predecessors, the narrator is the teenaged Christopher, the story is something of a comic romp through murder. And while young Christopher has reached age 18, he still pays attention to the important things in life, life food.
In addition to the Lord Edgington stories, Brown has written seven Izzy Palmer mystery novels and three novellas. A native of south London, he lives with his family in Spain. The Lord Edgington mysteries are likely aimed at both the general reader as well as the young adult audience. And they’re well-researched stories, full of information about the mid-1920s.
Blood on the Banisters differs from the other lord Edgington mysteries in that the entire story unfolds with in 24 hours. And despite the death of the much-disliked duchess, the wedding plans are only slightly delayed. Lord Edgington, however, is determined to solve the case so that the ceremony can proceed. Stiff upper lip, and all that.
Related:
Murder at the Spring Ball by Benedict Brown.
A Body at a Boarding School by Benedict Brown.
The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall by Benedict Brown.
Death on a Summer’s Day by Benedict Brown.
The Tangled Treasure Trail by Benedict Brown.
The Curious Case of the Templeton-Swifts by Benedict Brown.
The Crimes of Clearwell Castle by Benedict Brown.
The Snows of Weston Moor by Benedict Brown.
What the Vicar Saw by Benedict Brown.
Some Thursday Readings
Virginia Woolf doesn’t need a trigger warning – Tom Slater at The Spectator.
“Grant is My Man and I am His” – Chris Mackowski at Emerging Civil War.
No comments:
Post a Comment