Book Description:
Lady Swift has been cordially invited to a huge royal celebration in Little Buckford to toast the King’s birthday… but wait, is that a body in the village hall?
Lady Eleanor Swift and her loyal butler Clifford are busy lending a hand with preparations for the big day. The grand dining room at Henley Hall is overflowing with home-sewn flags, paint and royal rosettes. Even Gladstone the bulldog and his new friend Tomkins the ginger cat are invited!
But just days before the event Mr Prestwick-Peterson, the chairman of the celebrations committee, is found dead in the village hall: strangled with handmade red, white and royal blue bunting.
With the village hall in total disarray and a key part of the decorations missing, Eleanor wonders if someone dastardly is sabotaging the King’s birthday celebrations?Teaming up with her handsome beau Detective Hugh Seldon to question the local butcher, baker, and pub landlord it becomes clear that the meddlesome busybody Mr Prestwick-Peterson was not universally liked in charming Little Buckford. Indeed, the only mystery is why he wasn’t murdered before…
Searching Mr Prestwick-Peterson’s pristinely organised rooms, Eleanor is surprised to find a faded photograph of a beautiful young woman hidden within the pages of a novel. Could this be the key to untangling this very village murder? And can Eleanor catch the killer before the party is over for her, too?
A totally charming, unputdownable Golden Age murder mystery with characters readers will adore. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Murder By Invitation' by Verity Bright.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Verity Bright, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 27th September 2023.
This novel consists of 44 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO VERITY ON YET ANOTHER PAGE TURNING SUCCESS!!
Another successful unputdownable cosy mystery by the very talented Verity Bright. I'm always a bit dubious with books based historically as I worry about not being able to 'deal' with the language used but I absolutely love how Verity has written her books. The language used is perfectly suited to the era whilst being easy to read and making it quite humorous on several occasions. The atmosphere and descriptions were perfect. The synopsis and cover also suit the storyline.
The storyline had me hooked immediately and I love the way that Eleanor and Clifford go about their detective work. There was so much going on that it kept me entertained thoroughly throughout with mystery after mystery and clue after clue. It was filled with suspense, mystery, laughter, murder, clues, deceit. tension, suspense and so much more!! It is absolutely perfect to read either curled in front of the fire or lying on a beach which not many books can achieve. I devoured it in one sitting as I just could not put it down and gave up on lying to myself saying just one more chapter as that never happened!! I never did work out who the killer was and was completely shocked when they were discovered. A great achievement as I am a huge crime fan and tend to work out who did what quite early on, especially considering I have read so many of Verity's books yet she manages to get me every time. The atmosphere was perfectly suited to the mystery. I also love the fact that although this is a cosy mystery it also had me in stitches of laughter on so many occasions which makes it the perfect light hearted read!! Verity's books always send me back to the past and I become so immersed in each of her fantastic books that I always feel a bit lost when I finally look up from my book and land back in 2023!!! If your looking for a dog with a huge personality, a Lady with an attitude, a politely sarcastic butler and a lighthearted cozy murder mystery then look no further!!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Verity's historical notes that she includes at the back of the book so ensure you don't forget to read those. I love learning about history do was fascinated by the information she includes in the historical notes about:
👑 Kings Birthday Celebrations
⛏️ Mining Accidents
👑 Anarchism And Anri-Royalism
⛪Worshipful Bodies
🤑 Hawkers And Peddlers
🔪 Knife Grinders
⚒️Blacksmiths
🗼 Tower Of London
🤧 Hay Fever
Thank you Verity for including these, I learnt quite a few facts that I had no idea about previously.
Although this is the fifteenth book in the series I had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.
The characters were all larger than life, realistic and a complete breathe of fresh air. Eleanor is an amazing character, very bubbly and certainly not your typical 'Lady', she is absolutely unique as well as a very strong female lead which is a great bonus for myself being female. I absolutely adore her relationship with Clifford along with the rest of her "staff" that she treats more like friends. The only downfall is that herself and Clifford are fictional as these are two characters I would absolutely LOVE to meet in real life!! Clifford is absolutely fantastic and I really enjoy how he makes me laugh with his diplomatic skills while being extremely sarcastic at times. It is so sweet how he has taken Eleanor under his wing and admonishes her in several occasions in his humerus ways. They are like the perfect comedy duo but don't tell Clifford!! I also love Seldon who is completely overworked but still such a gentleman who is constantly on edge with Eleanor's adventures!! I loved meeting them all again along with Butters, Trotters, Polly and Lizzie who are all larger than life with their own exceptional personalities. I can't forget the absolutely adorable Gladstone along with newbie Tomkins who are adventures in themselves! I cannot wait to meet them all again and see what they get up to in the next "episode".
A huge congratulations on yet another fantastic success Verity!!! Here's to looking forward to your next book 🥂
If you are looking for a cosy mystery that will have you laughing until your crying look no further!!!
This is exactly why you are one of my favourite authors and this is one of my favourite 'series' Verity! A page turning and unputdownable success!
Overall a fun and easy to read page turning cozy murder mystery with the perfect amount of crime and humour that will keep you turning the pages.
322 pages.
This book is just £2.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £9.99 in paperback via Amazon (at time of review) which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio:
Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.
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