Another good outing for our likeable but improbable sleuths, Piers and April. Not a lot of progress on their relationship, but I suspect the author’s going to milk it for all its worth. I have to say, I don’t quite see where the inevitable happy ending is coming from, but we’ll see.
Here’s the premise: new viscount Piers, Lord Petteril, is asked to call in at a friend’s house instead of going direct to his own estate. A portrait of his late father has been damaged, and it’s upsetting for everyone, not least his stepmother, Lady Haggard. His ex-thief ‘assistant’, April, hates the idea; Piers wanted to leave her with Lady Haggard to be trained as a servant, and was only dissuaded after some effort on April’s part. Now she wonders if she should trust him. But Piers is getting a reputation for solving mysteries, so to Lady Haggard’s house party they are to go.
The mystery is the usual thing – a range of suspects, and a great deal of careful questioning and observation by Piers and April. April is able to move between upstairs and downstairs, which makes her particularly useful, and her background as a ne’er-do-well, always looking out for trouble coming her way, makes her very observant. Piers’ relations are well to the fore, as well, including his obnoxious aunt, and his cousin Gussie, a young lady who seems to attract undesirable types like a magnet and frankly is very poorly chaperoned. House parties are notorious for shenanigans, and this one has inordinate numbers of people wandering the upper corridors at night.
The mystery takes a neat twist towards the end of the book, with an explanation that I didn’t see coming but was very satisfying. A very enjoyable five stars, but I still wonder where Piers and April will end up.
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