{"id":27165,"date":"2026-06-05T21:19:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T01:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=27165"},"modified":"2026-06-05T21:19:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T01:19:51","slug":"only-murders-in-the-abbey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27165","title":{"rendered":"Only Murders in the Abbey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only Murders in the Abbey<\/em><\/a> (2025) Beth Cowan-Erskine (Loch Down Abbey #2)<\/p>\n

\"Only<\/a>Set in Scotland in 1937<\/p>\n

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

\u2018You will pay for their stays, Bella.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s hardly fair!\u2019 she retorted.<\/p>\n

\u2018That is entirely fair,\u2019 said Lady Georgina sharply, placing her sherry on the table, and fixing a stern expression on her face. \u2018Bella, you invited them, whether you meant to or not. They are your guests, and so you shall have to pay for them.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018But . . .\u2019 she said, eyes darting between her brother and her grandmother, neither of whom looked likely to back down. \u2018Fine. But I expect the family rate.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Honestly, I disliked almost the entire family, with two exceptions.<\/p>\n

Fergus,<\/p>\n

\u2018I boarded and left my maid to repack a case for me on the tarmac.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018But, if you were only allowed one case,\u2019 asked Fergus, confused, \u2018and they counted your cosmetics case as yours\u2014\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Well, my maid hardly needed a case.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

and Elspeth.<\/p>\n

She was shocked by the very idea.<\/p>\n

\u2018A summer wage at that.\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The rest of them were nigh near intolerable.<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh!\u2019 she cried, surprised to see Angus. They hadn\u2019t seen one another since Bella left the Abbey. \u2018It\u2019s the homewrecker.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Angus glared at his sister. \u2018Rich coming from the mother who abandoned her children.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those two being the worst.<\/p>\n

You could get a job,\u2019 Mr Rosenthal suggested gently, shrugging his shoulders. <\/p>\n

\u2018What?\u2019 Angus\u2019s voice was cold. He drew breath to object further but was cut off by his brother.
\nFergus turned to stare at Mr Rosenthal. \u2018A job?\u2019 His voice was filled with wonder.<\/p>\n

\u2018I am the twentieth Earl of Inverkillen, a Peer of the Realm,\u2019 said Angus. \u2018The aristocracy do not have . . . jobs.\u2019 He sneered the word.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mind you, Fergus is Angus’s brother, and manages the hotel.<\/p>\n

The mystery was interesting, but I really kept wanting Belle, Angus, and Cecil to all be guilty.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: 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<\/p>\n

Cover illustration Garry Walton<\/p>\n

Hodder & Stoughton <\/p>\n

Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. \u2018You will pay for their stays, Bella.\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s hardly fair!\u2019 she retorted. \u2018That is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[194,30,292,204,33,8,148],"tags":[969,968],"class_list":["post-27165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-5-10","category-british","category-ebook","category-good","category-historical","category-mystery","category-queer","tag-beth-cowan-erskine","tag-loch-down-abbey"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-749","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12715,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12715","url_meta":{"origin":27165,"position":0},"title":"Lady Mechanika Vol 03: The Lost Boys of West Abbey","author":"Michelle","date":"April 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Lady Mechanika Vol 03: The Lost Boys of West Abbey (2017) Marcia Chen, Joe Benitez, Peter Steigerwald, Marcia Chen When she learns of the murders of young orphan boys in a strange warehouse found mechanical toys, Lady Mechanika decides to investigate, in case this is related to her own (forgotten\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lady Mechanicka: The Lost Boys of West Abbey","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/The-Lost-Boys-of-West-Abbey.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10987,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10987","url_meta":{"origin":27165,"position":1},"title":"Saint Peter’s Fair","author":"Michelle","date":"August 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Saint Peter's Fair (1981) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1139 The Abbey is having it's annual horse fail--Saint Peter's Fair--and the merchants of the town of Shrewsbury are unhappy, for unlike the abbey, the town took damage the previous year when King Stephen took the town, and the Abbey\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Saint-Peters-Fair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3805,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3805","url_meta":{"origin":27165,"position":2},"title":"Thieves’ World, Book 8: Soul of the City","author":"Michelle","date":"May 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Thieves' World, Book 8: Soul of the City (1986) edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey This is, hands down, my least favorite Thieves' Word book. Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey Power Play by Janet Morris Dagger in the Mind by C.J. Cherryh Children of All Ages by Lynn Abbey\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Soul-of-the-City.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3787,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3787","url_meta":{"origin":27165,"position":3},"title":"Thieves’ World, Book 7: The Dead of Winter","author":"Michelle","date":"May 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Thieves' World, Book 7: The Dead of Winter (1985) Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey More than halfway through now. Luckily, there were lighter stories to counteract the darkness of Janet Morris' story. 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Cherryh A Gift in Parting by Robert Lynn Asprin The Vivisectionist by Andrew Offutt The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn by Diana L.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Shadows-of-Sanctuary.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13333,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13333","url_meta":{"origin":27165,"position":5},"title":"Lady Mechanika: La Dama de la Muerte","author":"Michelle","date":"August 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Lady Mechanika: La Dama de la Muerte (2017) Joe Benitez, M. M. Chen, Peter Steigerwald, Beth Sotelo Set in Mexico in 1869 This is set outside of the regular series, and was published the same year as the third volume, The Lost Boys of West Abbey. I actually don't know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lady Mechanika La Dama de la Muerte","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lady-Mechanika-La-Dama-de-la-Muerte.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27171,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27165\/revisions\/27171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}