Belchester Chronicle
5 total works
From the author of the Falconer Files, a series featuring a pair of amateur sleuths and a delightful outpouring of English upper-class eccentricities - with the odd murder thrown in.
Lady Amanda Golightly of Belchester Towers is a person in complete contrast to the stereotypical image of one of her breeding. She is short, portly, and embarrassingly forthright. If she wasn't calling a spade a shovel, it was only because she was calling it 'trumps'!
On a visit to a local nursing home where an old business partner of her father's is residing, she unexpectedly discovers a long-lost friend, Hugo Cholmondley-Crichton-Crump - and stumbles upon murder as well.
Installing Hugo in the more civilised and comfortable surroundings of Belchester Towers, the pair turn to sleuthing after Lady Amanda reports her appalling discovery to the local police inspector and is incensed when he treats her as a silly old biddy with an over-active imagination. Her outrage prompts her to teach the impertinent young whipper-snapper a lesson, and she and Hugo (Zimmer frame in tow) embark upon their first investigation, only for murder to become a distressingly frequent occurrence ...
Lady Amanda Golightly's dutiful butler Beauchamp is getting married and she provides him and his bride with a wonderful present - a honeymoon in the Caribbean. There's just one snag - Lady Amanda and her friend Hugo are going too!
One of Lady A's old friends is hosting a school reunion, and so the Belchester party joins some of the other old girls in crossing for the reunion by sea - on a ship very accurately named the Seven Seas Floating Party Town.
On embarkation, life is typically uneventful: the tropical island paradise is rife with murder, smuggling, blackmail, and much, much, more. With Lady Amanda's unerring nose for nefarious deeds, she, Hugo, and the besotted newlywed Beauchamps are off detecting once more - aided by plenty of coconut rum - and the local hot sauce.
Another tongue - in - cheek romp for our intrepid decrepit heroes.
Lady Amanda Golightly and her housemate Hugo Cholmondeley - Crichton - Crump return from their visit to Scotland to find a letter informing them that Hugo's sister will be arriving the following day for a month's visit, which sours Lady A's mood as Tabitha constantly bullied her at school.Her manservant's announcement that he is now betrothed to Enid Tweedie, sort of friend and general gopher for his employer, has already unsettled her.
If that wasn't enough to cope with, it appears that, while they were away, the security of Belchester Towers had been breached and there had been thefts. To top it all, somebody started systematically killing off the domestic staff!
Enter Detective Inspector Moody and Detective Sergeant Glenister, and all hell breaks loose!
In the third Belchester Chronicle, Lady Amanda Golightly receives an invitation to spend Burns' Night with friends in Scotland. Although she is dismissive of the idea, her chum Hugo is thrilled at the thought and persuades her to agree to the trip. With Beauchamp, her long-suffering manservant, and her friend, Enid Tweedie, the four head to Rumdrummond Castle for a 'wee break'.
Before long, however, murder enters their lives once more, and they begin to suspect some very dirty dealing is going on under the under the respectable veneer of castle life.
Bagpipes, haggis, tartan, and kilts all make their appearance, as dastardly deeds are done amidst a snowy landscape.
The second in the series featuring a madcap pair of amateur sleuths and a delightful outpouring of upper-class English eccentricities – with the odd murder thrown in.
Lady Amanda Golightly, eccentric resident of a sprawling faux castle in the town of Belchester, has recently taken it upon herself to act as a veritable super-sleuth, aided by her friend Hugo Cholmondley-Crichton Crump.
In this Chronicle she faces a family crisis while planning a new business venture for Belchester Towers: guided tours. To celebrate (and road-test) her new venture, Lady Amanda invites a horde of old chums to a trial run at Christmas time, complete with tasty nibbles. However, things don’t go to plan – a dead guest is discovered found slumped on the library table, having been dispatched in a variety of unusual ways!
Lady Amanda and Hugo are off again, but can they beat the morose Inspector Moody to the unmasking of the culprit?