2017 mystery, third in its series. Lady Armitage and her maid Florence
go to Lord Riddlethorpe's estate for a week of parties and motor
racing. But death soon follows…
It's still "what fun!" detection, and there are dark deeds both
above and below stairs. Both of our principals, having led rather more
exciting and dangerous lives than everyone they encounter, are
determined to set things right, whether that's by solving the
murders, enabling a romance, or introducing an unhappy maid and
potential employer to each other.
[…] the Dalmatians did add a pleasing element of danger and
unpredictability. I wondered if the Croquet Association might be
persuaded to add 'mischievous large dogs' to its list of approved
equipment.
And this is the era (as a few years later it would be for aviation) in
which an amateur with only moderately deep pockets could design and
build a racing car and have at least a fair chance of success with it.
But is the sinister Hungarian out to damage the team's reputation with
an aim of buying it on the cheap? There was one particular clue which
I thought very clearly signalled, and then ignored for most of the
book, but even so I enjoyed the deduction game as well as the people.
Kinsey is not parodying Wodehouse, but this is definitely constructed
with the same set of tools he used, and it's done quite remarkably
well — and it's set in an era, before the War, when that sort of
country house gathering was still happening.