Christmas At The Grange by T E Kinsey

It is Christmas 1909, Lady Hardcastle and her lady’s maid, Florence Armstrong, are invited to the Christmas celebrations at The Grange. Their hosts are the owners of The Grange – Sir Hector and Lady Farley-Stroud.

The celebrations are in full swing but there is a thief in their midst. A priceless pearl necklace is stolen and the hosts do not want to involve the police. Lady Hardcastle and Flo are well known for their recent spy adventures and they are asked to solve the case. With many clues and no suspects, will Lady Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong solve this case?

Christmas at the Grange is a short story T E Kinsey. The story begins with a mention or two of Emily (Lady Hardcastle) and Flo’s past adventures. They are invited for the Christmas celebrations at The Grange. The whole village is invited too and there is drinks, food, and gifts for the young ones. The duo are enjoying the festive spirit when they are called to the Grange once again. A necklace with a priceless pearl pendant of Lady Farley-Stroud’s niece-in-law seems to be missing. The thief entered her bedroom and stole the necklace. Nothing else seems to be stolen. Emily and Flo discover cigar ash, a footprint and a piece of thread( torn from the thief’s suit) in the room. All they need now is a suspect.

Lady Hardcastle and her maid Flo, are more like best friends than employer-employee. I loved the way their relationship’s portrayed in the story. And it is not just Lady Hardcastle, the hosts at The Grange are very friendly with Flo. They even ask her to sit at the table for Christmas Dinner.

 

The duo finally ‘find’ the thief. And it is not who they expected it to be. Or, should I say it is not what they expected it to be?

I loved the author’s writing style. The ending was unexpected and unique. Since it is a short story, I cannot comment much on the story or character development. This book is a part of the Lady Hardcastle Mystery series (#3.5) and I would have enjoyed the book even more if I had read the first three books in this series. Nonetheless, it was a good read.

I borrowed this book from Kindle Unlimited as I found the blurb interesting. My plan was to read a novella from a series and if I liked it, I would then read the whole series. Lady Hardcastle and Flo sound like an interesting detective pair and I have decided to read the other books in this series.

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