A fabulously entertaining book set in a period of history I love. The Mitford sisters and their group of bright young things all appear in the book mixing fact with fiction in an enjoyable way. Diana Mitford's lady's maid, Lousia turns detective when she starts to think an accidental death may have been murder. A wonderful set of characters and and an intriguing plot.

I’m a sucker for historical crime fiction with a strong female lead - and Louisa Cannon fits the bill perfectly!

Book 3, and the will they / won’t they vibe is still strong, but interesting to focus on the next Mitford sister - and see where that takes us!

This book just oozes glamour and intrigue.
I've not read a book from this series that i haven't enjoyed, i love the setting and the mysteries that unfold.
The characters are really sweet and charming and I love the bond between Louisa and Diana, you can't help but root for Louisa either.

The mystery isn't the most shocking or complex but this is a lovely read that kept me hooked from beginning to end.

I can’t thing why I haven’t picked one of these novels up before - this is the third in a series. I have been interested in the Mitford sisters for many years, having been taken to Chatsworth House a lot in my youth and meeting the then Duchess of Devonshire, previously Deborah Mitford. I have a signed copy of her book collating the sister’s correspondence and others on Unity Mitford and her time in Germany, as well as Diana’s marriage to Oswald Moseley. They epitomise that glamorous era between two world wars and are central to many events in the lead up to World War II.

This novel is set in the late 1920s and in the shadow of war. We follow Louise Canon ladies maid to Diana Mitford in 1928, after failing to join the police service. At an eventful society party a maid dies after a terrible fall. At the same time, heir to the Guinness fortune Bryan has proposed to Diana, thought to be the most beautiful sister. The death is ruled a tragic accident. So the newlyweds head off for a whirlwind tour of Europe for their honeymoon, and Louise is taken with them. In Paris Louise witnesses Diana’s crowd of bright young things, partying, drinking and experimenting with drugs. While they are there a young man dies of an apparent allergy. It’s ruled as a tragic unforeseen death, but Louise is starting to think. Could there be a pattern? She wants to let the Mitfords know there may be a murderer in their midst.

I’m a big fan of this era so loved the descriptions of fashions, parties and lavish places they visit from Mayfair in London, to Paris and then on to Venice. The period detail is done very well and there is so much attention paid to every scene. I love the way the author seamlessly blends fact and fiction to create her story, never leaving out the historical events of the period. Post the Great War, British society went through a colossal change. Aristocratic families were hit by death duties, loss of their estates, unmarried daughters and eventually the loss of the high life they were accustomed to. Men came back from war profoundly affected by events on the continent to women who couldn’t comprehend their experience, but who had learned independence from working in the jobs left by men to keep factories and shops open. Women wanted more freedom, they became eligible to vote and started to earn lives and careers of their own. Men came back expecting a job that didn’t exist anymore, or was being done by a woman. This led to resentment, homelessness and crime. The author blends all of this turmoil into her fiction and makes it believable.

It was the actual mystery that was the weaker part of the novel and I wondered whether the author would have been better off writing a fictionalised book about the Mitford sisters without the mystery element. There’s certainly enough drama to use and I did find myself constantly wondering what they were really doing or saying at a given time. Trying to separate the fact from the fiction. It would have been more entertaining to me if she kept all of the historical detail/fashion and written about how Diana went from Mrs Mitford Guinness to becoming the mistress of Moseley. Then there’s all the scandal surrounding Unity to explore. It was entertaining though and made me want to do more research about this incredible family.

I absolutely love this series - I have always been intrigued by the Mitford family, ever since I read Nancy’s novel In Pursuit of Love many years ago.

This book (and the series) has a touch of realism as it’s woven around facts about the Mitfords (such as Diana meeting Oswald Moseley) with the imagination of the author.

Yet again, our heroine is Louisa who, as Diana’s lady’s maid, experiences far more freedom in this book than before. This frees her up to think about the intrigue and become more closely intertwined in the stories. There’s quite a cast of characters but the story is structured well so it’s easy to follow who’s who...

A fun, fast and enjoyable read which spans London, Paris, Venice and the English countryside. I loved it, my only disappointment is that I finished it so quickly. More please!!!

5*

This was a excellent historical mystery novel. The characters were depicted in a believable manner, and the story kept me on my toes. Highly recommended.

A party in the London Season. A startling death.

Nineteen year old Diana Mitford marries Bryan Guinness, scion of the brewing family. Off they go to Europe for their honeymoon, with Louisa Cannon (now back in the Mitford fold) as her maid.

But more deaths follow them....