Murder Most Welcome
MURDER
MOST WELCOME
Genre: Historical cosy mystery
Release Date: This edition Feb 2018 First Ed:2008
Publisher: Williams & Whiting Publishing
Outwardly a grieving young Victorian
widow, Charlotte Richmond is concealing some scandalous secrets when she
arrives at Finchbourne Manor to start a new life with her husband's family. The
wealthy Richmonds must never discover that her husband's recent death in the
Indian Mutiny came as a great relief. Nor must they hear about the rumors
circulating in the army regarding his scandalous behavior. His death has also
been the subject of speculation and Charlotte must take care not to spill any
secrets. Above all she must make certain that nobody in her new life hears of
her own adventurous upbringing in Australia. When the past catches up with
Charlotte, she begins to fear for her own life.
LATE
SPRING 1858 - in the South of England
Chapter 1
As she laid out the body, Charlotte
Richmond made two surprising discoveries.
The first of these led her to suspect that the man on the bed had been
murdered. By whom, she had not the
slightest notion. To whom she was profoundly grateful.
The second discovery confirmed what she had known all along, that the
deceased - late and far from lamented - had not possessed the habits of a
gentleman.
As this was the second time in less than a year that he had apparently
been murdered Charlotte felt she might be forgiven for not falling into a
paroxysm of grief; indeed, strong hysterics might, she considered, be a more
appropriate reaction.
Hysterics not being in her nature she merely veiled his face decently
with a linen cloth and wondered what to do with the object she had so
surprisingly encountered. ‘Well, well,
well,’ she murmured. 'Here you are, dead
again, I see. I wonder what is to become of me now?'
A few
short weeks previously, Charlotte, who was waiting with some trepidation in the
entrance hall at Finchbourne Manor and trying to overcome her anxiety by
observing the
ancient,
dark oak of the panelling, the extreme chill of the flagstone floor, and the
picturesquely leaded windows that let in so little light, had overheard her
mother-in-law express a similar sentiment.
'Oh, that dreadful Mutiny, what will become
of that unfortunate child, poor, dear Charlotte?' she had enquired, allowing an
artistic sob to colour her voice.
'Well, Mama,' answered a prosaic female
voice. 'I understand that Charlotte is even now on her way home from India to
Finchbourne. If you recollect it was your own suggestion, when we heard of dear
Frampton's sad death, that she should make her home here with us. And after all
there is no reason to believe that Charlotte is a child; remember, dearest
Frampton was thirty-seven and his letters made no mention that his bride was
much younger than he was himself.’
'Oh do hush, Agnes dear!'
In spite of the nervous tension that had
her sitting ramrod straight on an uncomfortable oak settle, blackened by age,
Charlotte listened, with wry amusement, to this conversation. Shifting very
slightly in her seat she felt a twinge of guilt as she recollected how
differently Frampton Richmond’s ‘sad’ death had been viewed by her military
acquaintances in India.
I must say nothing, she thought, shaking
her head. I have seen the damage caused
by a stray shell fired into the midst of the market place, who am I to lob a
shell of my own and destroy their illusions about their lost hero - and for
what? Rumour? Speculation?
No, not I, my part is to play the
grieving widow and ingratiate myself into their home and into their affections,
to make a settled home for myself at last.
Besides, she reminded herself, I dare not raise any spectres from the
past, what if they found out about me?
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OUT THE OTHER 2 BOOKS IN THE SERIES
Nicola Slade has been a Brown
Owl, an antiques dealer, and once lived in Cairo for a year. Her published
novels include a romantic comedy, Scuba
Dancing, three Victorian mysteries featuring a young widow, The Charlotte Richmond Mysteries, and
three contemporary mysteries featuring recently-retired headmistress, Harriet
Quigley, and her clergyman cousin, the Reverend Sam Hathaway. The Harriet Quigley Mysteries. Her
eighth novel, a mystery romance, The
House at Ladywell, was published in late 2017.
Nicola’s family is now grown up
and she and her husband live near Winchester.
Twitter:
@nicolasladeuk
Website: www.nicolaslade.com
Also by Nicola Slade
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