Long ago, Lily’s grandmother Rose worked as a kitchen maid at Thornecroft Castle, and now Elizabeth, dowager countess of Frockmorton, is celebrating her one hundredth birthday. Rose still has fond feelings for her onetime employer, so a group trip to Yorkshire is planned. It’s also an opportunity for Lily to visit her boyfriend, who’s currently working in England—and to indulge in some British tea.
Much has changed, however, and the ancestral home is now a luxury hotel, which will be closed for a week to accommodate the big bash, much to the chagrin of Elizabeth’s grandson, Julien—leading Lily to overhear an argument among the younger generation about the fate of the family fortune. Little do they know that Elizabeth plans to sell the famous Frockmorton Sapphires out of the family for the first time in centuries.
The icing on the cake comes when the jewels suddenly vanish—and things really go nuts when a party guest dies from an allergic reaction to almonds that someone smuggled into Lily’s coronation chicken sandwiches. Now she’ll have to scour the property to find out who would commit murder in such a manor.
This is the sixth book in the series and apparently, I have skipped the last two, which does explain a few things to me. There were a couple of regular characters that I could not remember and am now wondering if they were new in the 4th and 5th novels.
I enjoyed seeing more of Rose’s past. I am a firm believer that the past is ours, no one can take it away, but that it also should be remembered and learned from. I think Elizabeth does just that in the way she conducts herself with Rose as well as her own children and grandchildren.
Overall, I rate this novel 5 out of 5 stars.
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