Cressida Fawcett is enjoying a Christmas Eve party, hoping her best friend will get engaged. But the evening takes a shocking turn when she finds an acquaintance’s body in the fountain. The hotel is locked down and Cressy hunts the killer…
Death in the Mayfair Hotel is the 6th book in the amateur sleuth cosy historical murder mysteries (set in 1925).
Cressida and DCI Andrews only have a few hours to find the killer before the Christmas party ends and all the guests leave for their homes. Lady Victoria Beaumont is the victim and she was attending the party with her much older husband. Her former lover, disgruntled debutantes and her gynaecologist are also in attendance and Cressy unearths a myriad of motives.
I liked the limited setting and timing of the hotel party. It really intensified the investigation for me as midnight approaches. The glorious Ruby the pug is invaluable throughout the book and I loved her escapades. As well as her hopes for her best friend’s romanctic future, Cressy also has her own heart to consider as she begins to accept her feelings for Alfred.
Death in the Mayfair Hotel is a very enjoyable cosy historical murder mystery.
Book Description:
In a candlelit ballroom, London’s most fashionable amateur sleuth, Cressida Fawcett, is dancing the night away in her sparkling silk dress. It’s a night Cressida will never forget. Because outside the window, there’s a body under the falling snow…
Christmas Eve, 1925. The Honourable Cressida Fawcett is delighted to attend an exclusive ball at London’s glamorous Mayfair Hotel. When she steps out into the moonlit courtyard with her little pug Ruby wrapped in her furs, she is thrilled to see a dashing man propose to her best pal under the swirling snowflakes. But instead of squealing ‘yes’, Dotty lets out a terrified scream…
Because floating in the fountain, with her long blonde hair rippling in the ice-cold water, is the body of their dear friend Lady Victoria Beaumont.
It’s clear the wealthy young beauty was murdered, whacked over the head with a bottle of champagne. Would Victoria’s elderly husband Lord Beaumont kill his wife over rumours of her younger beau? Or did someone clobber Victoria to prevent her producing an heir for the Beaumont fortune?
A snowstorm prevents the authorities from arriving, and just as Cressida searches for clues, she finds herself locked inside a large wicker hamper. Why does the scent of the hamper’s smoky luxury tea remind her of the crime scene? And will a suspiciously rotund Ruby follow her snuffly nose and find Cressida in the nick of time?
Trapped in the hotel with a killer lurking among the guests, will Cressida lose someone dear to her heart? And when she finds a clue among the Christmas crackers, can Cressida solve her most mysterious case yet?
The perfect cozy whodunnit for a cold winter’s night. Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss won’t be able to put this down!
Author Bio:
Fliss Chester lives in Surrey with her husband and writes historical cozy crime. When she is not killing people off in her 1940s whodunnits, she helps her husband, who is a wine merchant, run their business. Never far from a decent glass of something, Fliss also loves cooking (and writing up her favourite recipes on her blog), enjoying the beautiful Surrey and West Sussex countryside and having a good natter.
