A Christmas Guide to Family and Murder - A Review

 Review

A CHRISTMAS GUIDE TO FAMILY AND MURDER by Dianne Freeman
The Ninth Countess of Harleigh Mystery 

 

It's Christmastime and Frances Hazelton, formerly the Countess of Harleigh, is delighting in the mild London weather. Her daughter and ward, however, have snow on their minds and even her husband, George, is keen to spend Christmas at his sister Fiona's home in the country where there's sure to be snow. While she'd prefer to stay in London enjoying the Christmas concert at Royal Albert Hall, Frances is persuaded and the whole family heads to Hadley Grange. However, instead of snow, they're met with a massive rainstorm on their first night. George and Fiona's husband, Robert, leave the next day to help unblock the roads. Deciding to get some fresh air Frances, Fiona, and the children decide to take a ramble only to discover a dead body in the fields. With no coroner, he's the dead body, no law enforcement or magistrate in town, all dealing with the storm damage, it will be up to Frances to determine if she needs to solve another murder!

 

What makes A CHRISTMAS GUIDE TO FAMILY AND MURDER so different from other books in the series is that Frances is pretty much on her own when it comes to solving a murder. While she has Fiona and Hetty to bounce ideas off of, and even has a little help from the children, they aren't as well versed in investigations as her husband or Inspector Delaney. Although she decries of solving this perplexing murder, she's fully capable. I was laughing when George finally returned and was ready to assist, it was Frances taking the lead.

 

I love how the whole family got involved and how the children turned a holiday writing assignment into writing a murder mystery! As the title implies, family plays a huge role in the ninth Countess of Harleigh Mystery. Parenting, marriage, and dealing with all manner of relatives combine to move the story along, provide motives, and a solution to the crime.

 

A perplexing murder in the country makes A CHRISTMAS GUIDE TO FAMILY AND MURDER an intriguing Christmas who-dun-it. I absolutely love this series and truly enjoyed this latest outing. I look forward to the next one!