Murder Most Malicious

I haven't written about cover art in awhile, but I almost overlooked Alyssa Maxwell's new murder series debut, Murder Most Malicious - A Lady and Lady's Maid Mystery (#541) because of the insipid cover art.  The only reason I picked it up off the table was because I thought it was a Christmas novel, and I am a sucker for those stories.  As it turned out, it would have been a shame to let this cover deter me, because I quite enjoyed this Downton Abbey-esque mystery.

It's the first Christmas at Foxwood Hall since the end of World War I.  The residents both upstairs and down are hoping to return to a more normal life, but it's difficult with so many gone or injured in the war. Besides, Lady Penelope Renshaw has enjoyed a measure of freedom not possible with the pre-war social strictures.  Does she really want everything to go back to the way it used to be?

Her grandparents, The Earl of Wroxley and his wife, though, are hoping that her eldest sister, Lady Julia, will be announcing her engagement on Boxing Day to Lord Allerton, owner of a neighboring estate.  But Lady Penelope almost walks in on the couple on Christmas night, and it's clear from the conversation she overhears that her grandparents' hopes will be dashed.  When Lord Allerton doesn't appear the next day for breakfast or lunch, Penelope isn't surprised.  It isn't until Eva Huntford, the girls' ladies maid, opens her Boxing Day gift from the family that she finds a gruesome item tucked in amongst her other gifts.  When she rushes back to Foxwood Hall to report what she found, she discovers that several of the other servants and village merchants also received unwelcome presents in their boxes.

Why can't anyone find Lord Allerton, and what links those who received the ghastly gifts in their Boxes?  The clues point to someone with intimate knowledge of Foxwood Hall, and there are plenty of suspects to choose from.  The local Inspector has never had to deal with a crime of this magnitude, and is too ready to pin it on one of the staff.  Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her maid, Eva Huntford are going to find out on their own who is really responsible if the Inspector won't, if it's the last thing they do.  They way things turn out, it just might be!

I'll look forward to more entries in this series in the future, especially since this is the final season of Downton Abbey!