Murder at Midnight

Murder at Midnight (2023) Katharine Schellman (Lily Adler)

Set in England in 1816

The fourth Lily Adler book finds her at a house party with her late husband’s family, Matthew Spenser, and the Hartleys.

Lily had always found their custom of calling each other by their middle names—the names chosen by their mother, rather than their father—to be deeply endearing.

There is of course a murder and as they are snowed in, Lily is asked (discretely) to help with the investigation.

“He merely needed a woman to deal with delicate tasks such as these,” Lily demurred, glancing at Mrs. Crewe out of the corner of her eye. “And a sister-in-law is as trustworthy as one’s mother but easier to order about.”

Mrs. Crewe pursed her lips. “I might believe that, ma’am, if I’d seen him doing any ordering.”

The mystery was well done, but I feel like I enjoyed the historical bits as much if not more than the mystery.

“There’s a door past the kitchen, between the servants’ quarters and the rest of the house. Anytime we have guests, I keep it locked at night.”

“Do you worry about theft?”

Mrs. Reynaud met his eyes. “I worry about the gentleman guests bothering the female staff.”

I absolutely loved this bit:

after a year with such uncommon weather, everyone glanced at the sky as they emerged from their carriages

It was known as The Year Without a Summer. And if you’re a writer who needs an uncommon December snowfall in the middle of England that’s severe enough to strand a houseful of people for several days, that makes 1816 a convenient time to set a book.

For those curious about the romance aspect of the story, there is a proposal of marriage and an answer to that proposal in this story. (Lily has remained oblivious to how Jack feels about her.)

Now I am sad because this book was just published, so I have at least a year to wait for another.

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Rating: 8.5/10

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