Farewell Blues

July 1, 2021
A dowager marchioness's daughter does her best to get her mama out of the pokey in 1925 London. Things look bleak for Constance, Lady Broughton. Not that her affair with Edmund Moreton, fifth Duke of Rufford, was in any way illegal, both participants being well of age and widowed to boot. But the Duke's death in a suite at the Ritz definitely was a crime since he was shot with a pistol. And since the pistol was Lady Broughton's and the lady herself was found standing next to the body in a bloodstained peignoir, it's hard to fault the police for locking her up, title and all. Her daughters, Lady Adelaide Compton and Lady Cecelia Merrill, appeal to the court to grant their mother bail, to no avail. So while Cee weeps and frets, Lady Adelaide does the only thing she can think of to secure her mother's release: She launches a full-scale investigation to unmask the real culprit. Her probe depends on an odd assortment of characters: Beckett, Addie's cinema-fanatic maid; Stephen Moreton, the murdered Duke's grandson, who wishes to marry a Black American cabaret singer; and Graf Franz von Mayr, the estranged Austrian husband of the late Duke's daughter. But the pick of the litter is DI Devenand Hunter, who takes a leave of absence from his job at Scotland Yard to help Lady Adelaide clear her mother's name. Dev is a catch not only from the sleuthing perspective; he's also handsome, witty, and a good dancer. Adelaide's first priority is her mother's release, but the plucky sleuth can't help enjoying the chance to get up close and personal with dashing Dev. Robinson balances crime and romance, but her sharp heroine is the real prize.

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July 26, 2021
Murder hits all too close to home for Lady Adelaide Compton in Robinson’s sparkling fourth and final paranormal mystery set in 1920s England (after 2020’s Just Make Believe). One morning, in a suite at a fashionable London hotel, Addie’s formidable mother, Constance, Lady Broughton, is discovered “wearing only a bloodstained peignoir,” standing over the body of Edmund Moreton, the Duke of Rufford; in her hand is the murder weapon engraved with her exalted family’s monogram. Lady Broughton is promptly arrested and put in jail to await trial. While Rupert Compton, Addie’s dead but not departed husband, uses his ghostly abilities to infiltrate stately homes on the trail of gossip and clues, Addie turns to tall, dark, and handsome Scotland Yard Det. Insp. Dev Hunter for help in finding the real killer. Charming characters and spirited dialogue propel a plot in which the course of the gently simmering romance between Addie and Dev matters more than the sleuthing. Cozy fans will be sorry to see the last of Addie and company. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary.

September 15, 2021
This frothy, lighthearted romp of a mystery, set in 1920s London and featuring amateur sleuth Lady Adelaide ""Addie"" Compton, along with the ghost of her dead husband, Rupert, and Dev Hunter, a policeman Addie has assisted in the past, begins when Addie's mother, the Dowager Marchioness of Broughton, is imprisoned for allegedly shooting her lover, the Duke of Rufford. The evidence seems incontrovertible, with Lady Broughton's prints on the murder weapon and no evidence that anyone else was involved. But Addie knows her dear mama couldn't possibly commit such a heinous crime. As Addie and Dev, ably assisted by Rupert, the ghost, seek clues as to the real perpetrator, they meet one dead end after another. It's only when a violent confrontation takes place at a posh London hotel that Dev and Addie can nab the true killer, which leads to an old-fashioned happily-ever-after finale that will satisfy both mystery and romance fans.

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