Only Murders in the Abbey

Only Murders in the Abbey (2025) Beth Cowan-Erskine (Loch Down Abbey #2)

Set in Scotland in 1937

War is coming, and unexpected guests from Shanghai have shown up in Loch Down expecting to be put up in the estate turned hotel.

‘You will pay for their stays, Bella.’

‘That’s hardly fair!’ she retorted.

‘That is entirely fair,’ said Lady Georgina sharply, placing her sherry on the table, and fixing a stern expression on her face. ‘Bella, you invited them, whether you meant to or not. They are your guests, and so you shall have to pay for them.’

‘But . . .’ she said, eyes darting between her brother and her grandmother, neither of whom looked likely to back down. ‘Fine. But I expect the family rate.’

Honestly, I disliked almost the entire family, with two exceptions.

Fergus,

‘I boarded and left my maid to repack a case for me on the tarmac.’

‘But, if you were only allowed one case,’ asked Fergus, confused, ‘and they counted your cosmetics case as yours—’

‘Well, my maid hardly needed a case.’

and Elspeth.

She was shocked by the very idea.

‘A summer wage at that.’

Elspeth was horrified. Wages for the staff were generally quite low when they lived in, but during the summers, when the family was abroad, it was customary to pay almost nothing but room and board.

The rest of them were nigh near intolerable.

‘Oh!’ she cried, surprised to see Angus. They hadn’t seen one another since Bella left the Abbey. ‘It’s the homewrecker.’

Angus glared at his sister. ‘Rich coming from the mother who abandoned her children.’

Those two being the worst.

You could get a job,’ Mr Rosenthal suggested gently, shrugging his shoulders.

‘What?’ Angus’s voice was cold. He drew breath to object further but was cut off by his brother.
Fergus turned to stare at Mr Rosenthal. ‘A job?’ His voice was filled with wonder.

‘I am the twentieth Earl of Inverkillen, a Peer of the Realm,’ said Angus. ‘The aristocracy do not have . . . jobs.’ He sneered the word.

Mind you, Fergus is Angus’s brother, and manages the hotel.

The mystery was interesting, but I really kept wanting Belle, Angus, and Cecil to all be guilty.

Characters: Mrs Alice MacBain, Mr Robert Hudson, Mr Hamish Mackay, Mr Giles Lockridge, Mrs Eleanor Burnside, Sadie Milne, Ollie MacNair, Ross MacBain, Lady Georgina, Major Cecil Ogilvy-Sinclair, Lady Elspeth Comtois, Lord Angus Inverkillen, The Honourable Fergus Ogilvy-Sinclair, Lady Annabella Martin, Lady Iris Kettering, Thomas, Flora, Alice MacBain, Edward MacBain

Cover illustration Garry Walton

Hodder & Stoughton

Rating: 7.5/10

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