THE STORY SO FAR: The 1860s, England. Pamela Carrington-Jones, young, beautiful and with a growing reputation for solving crime, is approached by handsome gentleman Edgar Reedham for help solving the mystery of who is trying to kill his uncle, Lord Reedham. Under the pretext of being Edgar’s fiancée, Pamela travels to Reedham Hall to meet Edgar’s family, the prime suspects in several murder attempts. Cedric, Edgar’s cousin, appears empty-headed and obsessed with hunting, shooting and fishing. Harry, Lord Reedham’s twin (by only a few minutes) is a glutton, and Ivy, introduced as another of Edgar’s cousins, is a haughty, remote woman. Pamela feels more of a connection with Maisie the maid than with any of the family. Then, as she prepares to go down to dinner on her first night, there is a shot, and Cedric is discovered dead in the library after another apparent ‘accident’. Pamela investigates…
Pamela watched from the library window as the coroner’s carriage, bearing the body of Cedric Reedham, pulled away from Reedham Hall.
‘Cedric would have hated that.’ Harry, Cedric’s uncle, waddled into the room. ‘Being driven away by a couple of clapped-out old nags. Horses and women, Cedric liked ’em both to be thoroughbreds.’
He guffawed, apparently already well over his grief at his nephew’s death. He let his substantial bulk drop onto a chair. Its springs squeaking in protest under the weight.
‘The trouble with rum dos like this,’ he grumbled, reaching for the small bell to summon a servant, ‘they make
