Dr. Benjamin Bones, assigned at the beginning of World War II to be the resident physician for the village of Birdswing in Cornwall and nearby environs, finds himself in a second murder investigation. The first (Bones in the Blackout) was been that of his wife on the evening they first arrived in the village. This time, he’s called to examine a body at Belsham Manor, which looks like suicide. Or, as Dr. Bones soon realizes, a murder designed by the manor’s servants to look like suicide.
Lady Juliet, who lives in Birdswing in her own manor with her mother, has discovered she’s attracted to the doctor and had assisted him in helping solve the first murder. She has her own problems, however, having been deserted by a worthless cad of a husband who married her for her money and then promptly disappeared. Everyone gets surprised, however, when the husband unexpectedly shows up, and Lady Juliet learns she must continue the pretense of a happy marriage for wartime security purposes.
Emma Jameson
The murder victim has had a reputation of being something of a ladies’ man, except no one knows in this case if the lady in question is a servant or the lady of the manor. The local air raid warden is doubling as a police detective (there’s a manpower shortage, after all) and is ready to arrest the man’s wife, who aids in the investigation by confessing. Dr. Bones is convinced the confession is designed to protect her own family.
Bones at the Manor House is the second of four Dr. Benjamin Bones mysteries by British mystery author Emma Jameson, who’s also written the Lord and Lady Hetheridge mystery series (all set in London and have something to do with the word “blue”). This second novel in the series is fast-paced and highly readable, with something of a “locked room” air about it, but I found credulity stretched a bit when the scientific Dr. Bones seems to rather eagerly join into a séance and using a Ouija Board.
But the story is fun and officially a “cozy” read, with virtually no violence (other than the finding of the dead man). But a fan of the Lord and Lady Hetheridge mysteries, I’m looking forward to the next two in the Dr. Bones series.
Related:
Something Blue by Emma Jameson.
Blue Christmas by Emma Jameson.
Bones in the Blackout by Emma Jameson.
Some Monday Readings
Mr. Twiddle goes west – Jeffrey Streeter at English Republic of Letters.
Brits have not lost their appetite for freedom – Emma Schubart at The Critic Magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment