Emily, Lady Hardcastle and maid/paid companion/best friend/Jane of all trades Florence Armstrong (think Bunter in a skirt) move from London to the rural village of Chipping Bevington in pursuit of a quiet life. Alas or hooray, almost the very first thing they stumble over is the body of a young cricketer hanging from a tree, meant to look like suicide but speedily proven by Lady Hardcastle’s acute observation to be homicide.
The joy of this book is less about the murder(s) and more about tantalizing the reader with Emily and Flo’s backstory, as on page 61 when Flo casually drops this showstopper about her antecedents
The life of a circus child was lived in cheerful chaos.
Wait, what? And on their experiences in China
“It was all rather a pleasant adventure until Sir Roderick was murdered and we had to flee for our lives.”
which escape was aided by a young Shaolin monk, who passes on knowledge much to the two grasshoppers’ advantage in the adventures rural England is going to throw their way.
And then there is Emily and Flo’s relationship, which ain’t Downton Abbey.
“Good morning, my lady,” I said, placing her coffee tray on the bed.
“And good morning to you, too, Flo, dear,” she said sleepily. “How kind of you to bring me a tray.”
“I always bring you a tray.”
“Yes, and it’s always very kind. Are the serfs here?”
“…please don’t let them hear you calling them ‘the serfs.’ It’s the twentieth century now. We servants will be rising up and overthrowing you lot before you know it.”
“Righto, dear. You will keep an eye out for me if there’s a rebellion, won’t you.”
“I shall do my best, my lady, but I’m only little.”
“I knew I could count on you.”
Book Review Monday Chatter A Quiet Life in the Country TE Kinsey