“Midge and Reggie have inherited Chortlesby Manor from Reggie’s father Eric, who failed to make it profitable as a country hotel and has taken off for greener fields in Australia. Meanwhile, mystery tour weekends from the US have helped put the inn on its feet, and this one, with a staged murder for the participants to solve, has an involved scenario, hired actors, and a 1930s ambiance…[along with] some cogent observations on 1930s detective fiction and a few well-aimed barbs at contemporary work.” Kirkus Reviews
Description
They had explored every avenue, and it seemed that murder was their only salvation.
Reggie and Midge, genteel husband and wife who live in what was the family’s more or less stately home, are now the reluctant managers of Chortlesby Manor Hotel, an English country inn of no particular distinction. But even this transformation will not solve their financial problems. The possibility of succor comes instead in a transatlantic phone call from Midge’s old classmate, Victoria, who is arranging “mystery tours” of the English countryside for American visitors and wants to use Chortlesby Manor as one of the locales of her staged murders.
From the beginning, the mystery tour project is heading for disaster. Dissension, complaints, and shows of temperament abound. These are upstaged, however, by a snowstorm of paralyzing amplitude, which in turn is upstaged when a real murder takes front and center.
As a killer stalks this group of amateur sleuths on holiday, solving murders is no longer fun and games. Too many guests are checking out early from this eerie old English mansion. They’re not settling their bills—or leaving enough useful clues.
Praise
“Midge and Reggie have inherited Chortlesby Manor from Reggie’s father Eric, who failed to make it profitable as a country hotel and has taken off for greener fields in Australia. Meanwhile, mystery tour weekends from the US have helped put the inn on its feet, and this one, with a staged murder for the participants to solve, has an involved scenario, hired actors, and a 1930s ambiance…[along with] some cogent observations on 1930s detective fiction and a few well-aimed barbs at contemporary work.” Kirkus Reviews
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | May 9, 2016 |
| Release Date | May 10, 2016 |
| Release Date Machine | 1462838400 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Bestselling Mystery, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery, Cozy, Traditional Detectives, Bestselling Mysteries, Fiction - All, Fiction - Adult |
Author Bio
Marian Babson (1929–2017) wrote more than forty novels in the traditional amateur-sleuth style, “murder most British.” In 1996 she was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the library category for her body of work. Her many interests—theater, cinema, art, cooking, travel, and cats—were often reflected in her novels.
Narrator Bio
Steven Crossley, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, has built a career on both sides of the Atlantic as an actor and audiobook narrator, for which he has won more than a dozen AudioFile Earphones Awards and been a nominee for the prestigious Audie Award. He is a member of the internationally renowned theater company Complicite and has appeared in numerous theater, television, film, and radio dramas.
Overview
They had explored every avenue, and it seemed that murder was their only salvation.
Reggie and Midge, genteel husband and wife who live in what was the family’s more or less stately home, are now the reluctant managers of Chortlesby Manor Hotel, an English country inn of no particular distinction. But even this transformation will not solve their financial problems. The possibility of succor comes instead in a transatlantic phone call from Midge’s old classmate, Victoria, who is arranging “mystery tours” of the English countryside for American visitors and wants to use Chortlesby Manor as one of the locales of her staged murders.
From the beginning, the mystery tour project is heading for disaster. Dissension, complaints, and shows of temperament abound. These are upstaged, however, by a snowstorm of paralyzing amplitude, which in turn is upstaged when a real murder takes front and center.
As a killer stalks this group of amateur sleuths on holiday, solving murders is no longer fun and games. Too many guests are checking out early from this eerie old English mansion. They’re not settling their bills—or leaving enough useful clues.
Reviews
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