September 15, 2019
It's 1930, and Fran Black is in the middle of an ugly divorce from her philandering husband. To take her mind off her situation, Fran agrees to do some amateur sleuthing for her friend Tom Dod. Traveling to the estate of the wealthy Edgerton family in remote Devon, Fran has only a vague idea of what she's supposed to investigate. On arriving at the Edgertons', she discovers that Frederick, the elderly, wheelchair-bound scion of the family, died in somewhat mysterious circumstances, and the diamond he kept in the safe in his room disappeared and has never been found. Fran's job is to find the diamond. Interviewing the Edgerton family and servants, staving off the unwanted attention of Edgerton son Eddie, trying to understand whether Frederick's death was an accident or something more sinister, and, of course, determining what happened to the diamond?all definitely take Fran's mind off her personal situation. In the end, she finds answers, but not the ones the family wanted. An engaging heroine, coupled with fine insights on British life in the 1930s, makes this an attractive choice for historical-mystery fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)