annieb123
Written on Feb 2, 2019
Murder at Archly Manor is the first novel in the High Society Lady Detective series by cozy maven Sara Rosett. Released 15th Oct 2018 by the author, it's 256 pages and available in paperback, ebook and audio formats.
I love English country house mysteries. Golden age is a definite plus for me. This book was maybe a little more 'cozy' style than Marsh or Christie, but it was such a lovely read. The settings are well described and the plotting never drags. I like that Olive (lead character) is intelligent and brave and plucky.
The murdered man is a cad and a blackguard (another nice golden age touch - the corpse 'had it coming'). There's a stately home absolutely full of suspects and it's up to Olive to sort them out, since the local plod has his eye firmly fixed on Olive's cousin, the dead man's fianceé.
This book is well researched and it shows in the details of setting, dress, and dialogue. I was actually impressed at how seamlessly it worked within the time period.
I will absolutely look out for the next books in the series (second book is already released, third is to come in April 2019).
The language and narrative are very clean; no bad language or sexual content. There is some brief mention of drug abuse, but it's not graphic or glamorized.
Well worth a look for mystery lovers and fans of the golden age. I really enjoyed it.
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.