Delightful.

This is the second in an historical series that I fell in love with on its debut.

The protagonist, Phyllida Bright (herself a devotee of Hercule Poirot), is the housekeeper at Mallowan Hall, home of Agatha Christie and her husband Max. Centered around a local “Murder Fete” (attended by celebrated mystery writers of the period…The Detection Club…Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, etc.) organized to raise funds for a local orphanage. There are multiple murders and suspected villains are members of the local Listleigh Murder Club who are vying for the prize of publishing contracts (US and UK) for their entries in the short story contest.

This is pure mystery fun, with the irony of a Murder Fete being host to multiple murders. The Murder Club characters are each wonderfully singular in their personalities and writings, and the plot/denouement is complex and exciting. My favorite takeaways from these books (so far) are the well-constructed characters, the images of the locales and the humor and starchiness of Phyllida herself.

So well done. Bring on #3!

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing the free early arc of A Trace of Poison for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

I love these books so much the MC is such a delight.

3.5

The second in the Golden Era Phyllida Bright series, upstairs/downstairs A Trace of Poison brims with wit, fun, banter and delectable murder. It is every bit as delightful as the first...what a pleasure to get lost in! The mystery itself is bendy but the mostly eccentric characters are equally interesting. There are quite a few but author Colleen Cambridge lists them in the front.

Atmospheric Mallowan Hall is Agatha Christie's home where she resides with her husband Max and the setting for much of the story. Her cunning housekeeper Phyllida Bright has been her friend since they served together in the war and is now housekeeper and amateur sleuth with an eye for detail, a healthy interest in murder and clever inveigling skills. Her medical knowledge and sharp intelligence place her in good stead to investigate a poisoning, along with Christie's uncanny quiet brilliance and pharmaceutical background. However, not all the staff feel the same way.

Detection Club members including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, G. K. Chesterton and Anthony Berkeley as well as a plethora of others were startled (well, most of them were) to be on hand during a murder during a fundraiser cocktail party. Quick-thinking Phyllida snaps into sleuth mode immediately but encounters red herrings and obstacles as not everything is as it seems. Some characters are shadowy and mysterious, others are in the forefront and honest. Or are they?

Intrigued? Fans of Historical Fiction, Golden Era Mysteries and especially Agatha Christie, it would be a shame to miss this arresting series. I am besotted with the historical Detection Club and most of my favourite authors were part of it at some point. This book is a beautiful nod to them. I love how the authors all felt their fictional detectives were wonderful and real. My imagination pictures fictional characters, too, and Poirot, Marple, Wimsey and Holmes (and scores of others) are very real.

My sincere thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this refreshingly bright book. I am very curious about the third in the series. And the fourth...and the fifth...

It takes a little bit to get all the characters straight in this mystery, and the reader learns a little bit more about the main characters from book 1. The plot has several twists that seem to spring up unexpectedly and I found required rereading previous parts.

Interesting tale but the backstory of dresses and hair styles are quite boring.

I got the "who" and "why" but not even close on the "how"!