Mystery Annotation

Author: Ashley Weaver

Title: A Most Novel Revenge

Genre: Mystery (Amateur Investigators)

Publication Date: October 11, 2016

Number of Pages: 310

Geographical Setting: London, England

Time Period: 1930’s

Series: 3^rd in series (1^st -Murder at the Brightwell, 2^nd- Death Wears a Mask)

Plot Summary: Instead of a much needed trip to Italy, Ashley and Amory Ames are summoned by Amory’s cousin Laurel to come immediately to Lyonsgate, a country home owned by Laurel’s friend Reginald Lyons. Lyonsgate is the place that a murder occurred during a party several years earlier and coincidentally, the same group of people who were at the original party are assembled again during this long extended holiday, invited by socialite Isobel Van Allen. Isobel wrote a book about the first murder that caused quite a scandal and the guests are not happy to relive the experience, especially since she has written a second book that will probably result in more scandal. As Amory puts her amateur sleuthing skills to work, another murder occurs, leaving all guests suspicious and scared of each other, worried about who could be next.

Subject Headings:

Women private investigators-England-London-Fiction

Murder-investigation-fiction

Fiction-Mystery & detective-historical

Fiction-Mystery & Detective-Woman Sleuths

Appeal:

• Cozy mystery without the violence
• Two murders drive the plot and the reader knows whodunit by the end of the story
• Amory is an amateur detective
• Amory and Ashley are the main characters in the series along with Ashley’s housemaid Winnelda
• Lyonsgate country house setting frames the story set in the 1930’s aristocratic London
• Storyline is light-hearted and humorous, especially with the dialogue between Ashley and Amory
• Cast of quirky characters who are full of gossip
• Amory has a connection to a Scotland Yard detective

3 terms that best describe this book: witty, charming, delightful

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors

Minding the Manor: The Memoir of a 1930s English Kitchen Maid by Mollie Moran

Biography of a young girl's adventures while working on an estate in England during the 1930's as a maid.

-Relates to Amory's housemaid.

The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House, 1918-1939 by Adrian Tinniswood

Follow this account of the rise and fall of the English aristocracy during the early 20th century.

-Scandals ensued during stays in English country houses, as in the house similar to the country house in Murder at the Brightwell.

The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards

A richly detailed narrative about the lives of three important authors, Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and G.K. Chesterton, who changed the way mystery novels were written in Britain during the 1920’s and 1930’s.

-Ashley Weaver’s books have similar elements of the “Golden Age” mystery.

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors

Anything Goes: a Grace and Favor Mystery by Jill Churchill

A cozy mystery set in the 1930's, siblings Lily and Robert Brewster are set to inherit their uncle's mansion in England. The stipulation is that they have to live in the house for ten years before they become the owners. They soon discover that their uncle was murdered and set off to solve the mystery.

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

A British cozy mystery that takes place during the 1930's, Lady Victoria Georgiana is broke. When a Frenchman who is trying to seize the family estate is killed in Lady Georgiana's bathtub, she decides to find the killer herself.

Pride and Prescience, or, A Truth Universally Acknowledged by Carrie Bebris

Just returning from their honeymoon, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) become entangled in a mystery surrounding one of their wedding guests, Caroline Bingley, who is engaged to an American. This is a cozy mystery that takes place in England.