Mystery by the Sea by Verity Bright

A magnificent seaside hotel, striped deckchairs, strawberry ice cream… and a rather familiar dead body? Lady Swift is on the case!

Spring, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift, explorer extraordinaire and accidental sleuth, hasn’t had a vacation since she arrived in England a year ago. Being an amateur detective can be a rather tiring business and she is determined to escape any more murder and mysteries. So she books into the Grand Hotel in the fashionable resort of Brighton for some fresh air, fish and chips and, of course, a dip in the ocean.

Eleanor is enjoying her view of the waves and trying to find her bathing suit when calamity strikes: a guest has been found dead at her beautiful hotel. The distraught manager, who can’t afford a scandal, asks Eleanor to solve the case as swiftly as possible. Thank goodness she has her partner in crime – Gladstone the bulldog – to help her sniff out the dastardly culprit.

But when Eleanor enters the dead man’s room, she receives a shock big enough to make her forget even the finest ice cream sundae. The body is that of her husband, who supposedly died six years ago on the other side of the world. Has he been alive all these years? Why does he have a copy of their wedding photograph with a cryptic message written on the back?

If Eleanor can keep herself safe long enough to find her husband’s killer, she might discover that everything is not quite as it seems beside the seaside…

About the author.

Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

Review

I really enjoyed this outing of Lady Swift - you can’t beat a caper at the seaside! It was funny, surprising plot, great development of characters and plus it felt like putting on a nice warm pair of slippers - comfort at its best.

In this outing for Lady Swift she decides to go on holiday to Brighton to enjoy the sea air but also to celebrate her birthday! However, unlike most lady’s of the manor, she decides to treat all her staff to the same holiday all expenses paid. How novel and very socialist in thinking. But alas it’s not going to be all enjoyment you know there has got to be a dead body at some point in the book. When she arrives at the very proper Grand Hotel in Brighton it’s clear that something is afoot as the police are in lobby. The manager asks her to investigate but Eleanor is in for a bit surprise as it turns out the dead body is that of her husband! Her husband who died 6 years ago in South Africa and he is clutching a picture of the wedding.

The change of pace was very welcome, what I mean is it was great to learn more about Eleanor’s past and marriage. Plus the different setting of Brighton allowed for new experiences and japes! Just saying I wish there was an actual picture of Clifford - I would pay to see that. However, it was good to see a more mature and reflective side to Eleanor in this book. Plus her choice of beau in my view is the correct one and will be looking forward to seeing how that develops.

This series is now an auto read for me as I really do enjoy just sitting down with a cup of tea and finding out about the gang. Also it’s publication date today so whoop you can go read it as well!

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3bh7omG