Read The Scandal at 23 Mount Street (An Angela Marchmont Mystery Book 9) Online
Authors: Clara Benson
Tags: #murder mystery
The Scandal at 23 Mount Street (An Angela Marchmont Mystery Book 9) (26 page)
Angela glanced up sharply, but Barbara was poking at a bank of muddy snow with a stick, quite unconscious of having said anything remarkable. Angela had feared that she would put two and two together, but it appeared that she was still innocent enough to believe what she had been told. One day, perhaps, she would realize that there was more to the story than met the eye, but for now it looked as though Angela were safe.
‘Yes, I suppose it is a coincidence,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry he turned out to be a murderer,’ went on Barbara. ‘I mean to say, I know he was a thief, but I should never have thought of him as the violent type when we met him that time in Cornwall. As a matter of fact, I rather liked him.’
She bent over to tie her shoelace, which had come loose.
‘So did I,’ said Angela after a moment, so softly that Barbara did not hear her.
Barbara straightened up.
‘You’re looking a bit peaky, Angela,’ she said. ‘I don’t suppose it was much fun being in gaol. Perhaps you ought to go away for a week or two.’
‘Perhaps I shall,’ said Angela.
And perhaps she would. She had had an invitation only that morning from some friends of hers who were sympathetic to her plight, and who wanted her to come with them to the South of France. The weather would be warm and there would be lots of friendly people and it would all be very gay, they promised her. It sounded very appealing, for anywhere would be better than here at present, and she did not want to be alone.
‘You will come back though, won’t you?’ said Barbara, and there was a little note of anxiety in her voice. ‘You’re not going to run off again, I hope.’
‘Of course I’ll come back,’ said Angela. ‘You won’t get rid of me now. Just you wait and see.’
‘Good,’ said Barbara. She shivered. ‘I’m cold. Let’s go and have some tea.’
For a few seconds they stood facing one another, and at that moment no-one could have doubted the resemblance between them. They had spent so many years apart, and who knew whether what had been lost could ever be recovered? Still, now was the time to try. There was a pause as they gazed uncertainly at one another, then Barbara smiled and linked her arm through Angela’s, and mother and daughter turned and walked back towards the warmth of the house.
***
Can Angela clear her conscience and find happiness again? The adventure continues in The Shadow at Greystone Chase, the last in the Angela Marchmont series, coming soon!
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On his return from South Africa, Charles Knox is invited to spend the weekend at the country home of Sir Neville Strickland, whose beautiful wife Rosamund was once Knox's fiancée. But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it? As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery.
This 1920s whodunit will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories.
THE MYSTERY AT UNDERWOOD HOUSE
Old Philip Haynes was never happier than when his family were at each other's throats. Even after his death the terms of his will ensured they would keep on feuding. But now three people are dead and the accusations are flying. Can there really be a murderer in the family? Torn between friendship and duty, Angela Marchmont must find out the truth before the killer can strike again.
The Mystery at Underwood House is the latest exciting 1920s whodunit featuring reluctant ‘lady detective’ Angela Marchmont.
THE TREASURE AT POLDARROW POINT
When Angela Marchmont goes to Cornwall on doctor's orders she is looking forward to a nice rest and nothing more exciting than a little sea-bathing. But her plans for a quiet holiday are dashed when she is caught up in the hunt for a diamond necklace which, according to legend, has been hidden in the old smugglers' house at Poldarrow Point for over a century.
Aided by the house's elderly owner, an irrepressible twelve-year-old, and a handsome Scotland Yard detective, Angela soon finds herself embroiled in the most perplexing of mysteries. Who is the author of the anonymous letters? Why is someone breaking into the house at night? And is it really true that a notorious jewel-thief is after the treasure too? Angela must use all her powers of deduction to solve the case and find the necklace—before someone else does.
Lost in the mists of the Romney Marsh, Angela Marchmont stumbles upon the body of a woman whose face has been disfigured--presumably to prevent recognition. Who is she, and what was she doing out there in the middle of nowhere? The search for answers will take Angela from a grand stately home to London’s most fashionable--and disreputable--night-club, and into a murky world of illegal drinking, jazz music and lost souls.
It is Hogmanay, and Angela Marchmont is at Fives Castle, the Scottish seat of the Earl of Strathmerrick, to see in the start of 1928. But when she finds out that the Foreign Secretary, the American Ambassador and the Head of British Intelligence are also among the guests, Angela begins to suspect that something momentous is afoot. Before long, they are all snowed in and a body is discovered, and Angela soon finds suspicion directed against herself...
THE IMBROGLIO AT THE VILLA POZZI
While holidaying in Italy, Angela Marchmont is persuaded to postpone her trip to Venice and go to Stresa instead, to investigate a pair of spiritualists who are suspected of defrauding some of the town’s English residents out of their money. But what starts out as a minor matter swiftly becomes more serious when one of the residents in question is found dead in the beautiful gardens of his home, having apparently committed suicide.
Seduced by the heady sights and scents of the Italian Lakes, and distracted by an unexpected encounter with an old adversary who seems bent on provoking her, Angela sets out to find out the truth of the affair and resume her journey to Venice before she forgets herself and loses her head—and her heart.
On a reluctant visit to her painfully respectable brother and his wife, Angela Marchmont finds herself once again caught up in murder when a local farmer is shot dead, apparently at the hands of his sworn enemy. But the case is not as simple as it seems, for other motives and suspects soon come to light. With reporters hot on the scent and her friend Inspector Jameson battling a conflict of interest, Angela must use all her ingenuity to unravel the case and bring the murderer to justice—or more than one person will suffer the consequences.
When the Grand Duke of Morania learns of a plot to assassinate him, he sends his daughter Princess Irina to school in England, out of harm’s way. British Intelligence scent trouble and ask Angela Marchmont to investigate. But dark forces are at work, and when the Princess disappears in mysterious circumstances Angela must race against time to find her, before the throne falls and Morania is plunged into revolution—or war.