Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Potting Shed Mystery Book 3)

Author:  Marty Wingate
Genre:  Mystery

Ebook
Alibi Publishing
276 Pages
$2.99 Kindle
August 4, 2015

Five Stars

After her romantic idyll with the debonair Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse culminates in a marriage proposal, Pru Parke sets about arranging their nuptials while diving into a short-term gig at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.  At hand is the authentication of a journal purportedly penned by eighteenth-century botanist and explorer Archibald Menzies.  Compared to the chaos of wedding planning, studying the journal is an agreeable task...that is, until a search for a missing cat leads to the discovery of a dead body:  One of Pru's colleagues has been conked on the head with a rock and dumped from a bridge into the water of Leith.

Pru can't help wondering if the murder has something to do with the Menzies diary.  Is the killer covering up a forgery?  Among the police's many suspects are a fallen aristocrat turned furniture maker, Pru's overly solicitous assistant, even Pru herself.  Now, in the midst of sheer torture by the likes of flamboyant wedding dress designers and eccentric church organists, Pru must also uncover the work of a sly murderer-unless this bride wants to walk down the aisle in handcuffs.

********

Pru Parke has just finished her latest undertaking restoring a garden to glory and is searching for a new task.  At last she finds one she knows she wants:  discovering if a journal by the eighteenth-century botanist Archibald Menzies is real or a forgery.  But before she can start, her paramour Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse pops the all-important question and asks her to marry him.  It is decided that they will marry the moment her job ends, which is three months from now.  So Pru must set herself to work and attempt to plan a wedding at the same time.

Luckily, her friend Jo is insisting on helping her - providing her wedding gown and the minister to marry her; but Pru and Christopher will have to locate the venue, which shouldn't be too hard a task - her job is in Scotland, and it happens that so is the minister, Jo's estranged husband Alan.

But not so luckily, Pru has a nemesis at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh - and he has been found murdered shortly after having an argument with Pru, one of many they have had regarding her position and the journal.

When she is called in for questioning she strikes up a sort-of friendship with one of the officers, Tamsin Duncan, who is also getting married in a few months.  Soon Pru discovers that her position may not have been offered because of her work recently done, but for another reason entirely different, and she vows to find out the truth and why.

As if this isn't enough, an ex-boyfriend from the States arrives and she finds out he will also be working at the RBG, although not along side her, which is a relief.

I really enjoyed this latest entry into the Potting Shed mysteries.  As always, Ms. Wingate's mysteries are delightful to read.  Yes, I pretty much figured out the killer early on in the book.  But it really doesn't matter - the journey to the end when Pru figures it out is all that's important.  And some of the side trips along the way are worth it.  We get to meet Alistair Campbell, who hired Pru but spends his days attempting to avoid her and her questions; the mysterious Murdo, who is a jack-of-all-trades around the garden and writes notes in a little black book; Mrs. Murchie, Pru's neighbor who has secrets of her own; Tamsin, of course, and others who have their own interesting stories to tell.

I like the fact that Pru is an intelligent woman, not blundering into places she shouldn't be and taking unnecessary chances.  I also like the fact that she's not twenty-something but has come to England from Texas, found a new love and decided to stay and make it her home.

So in the end like Pru herself, I found the destination to be just as satisfying as the journey itself.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Between-Rock-Hard-Place-Potting-ebook/dp/B00PEPR70M/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1360205089

Killer Run (A Tourist Trap Mystery Book 5)

Author:  Lynn Cahoon
Genre:  Mystery

Five Stars

Jill Gardner - owner of Coffee, Books, and More - has somehow been talked into sponsoring a 5k race along the beautiful California coast.  The race is a fundraiser for the local preservation society - but not everyone is feeling so charitable.

The day of the race, everyone hits the ground running...until a local business owner stumbles over a very stationary body.  The deceased is the vicious wife of the husband-and-wife team hired to promote the event - and the husband turns to Jill for help in clearing his name.  But did he do it?

********

Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books, and More has a knack for getting herself in the middle of a murder.  No matter how she tries to stay out of it, her natural curiosity and need to solve puzzles brings her into it.  It doesn't help that her Aunt Jackie enjoys sleuthing as much as she does.  And this time is no different from any of the others...

Jill is a co-sponsor of the Mission Walk to raise funds for the local preservation society.  When Michael and Sandra Ashford show up at her store, she takes an instant dislike for the woman.  So later on, when Sandra is discovered dead on the trail, it is not only discovered that she was murdered, but that she was deliberately placed there so someone would find her.

Then Jill hears a rumor that Lille, her erstwhile nemesis and owner of Diamond Lille's, is wanting to expand her restaurant and plans to use the train shop next door.  But when she talks to Harrold, the owner, she finds he isn't planning on selling.  When his shop is vandalized several times, he asks Jill to help find the culprits, since the police have put his vandalism as secondary to the murder and he thinks the person will never be discovered.

And the vacation cruise she was planning on taking with her detective boyfriend Greg King is canceled because of the murder, so Jill decides to take the time off anyway and renovate the house she was left by Miss Emily.

Yes, Jill has a full plate, which isn't unusual to anyone who's been following this series.  And if you haven't I suggest you do.  From the first book, Guidebook to Murder, to the latest installment, we have gotten to know Jill and her friends and family.  They are not as eccentric as some of those in other cozy mysteries; indeed, these are real people with real problems, which makes this series one of the best out there.

While Jill and Jackie are trying surreptitiously to find out more about Sandra and who would want her dead, she discovers more mysteries:  namely, why is her travel agent Rachel spending time with the grieving widower?  Who is the mysterious man who accosted her one day at Lille's restaurant and asked her about the book she was reading, what was good on the menu and now seems to be everywhere she is?  Who are the other two people who are trying to buy the same food truck that she is interested in?

Plus, Jill is also discovering that her relationship with Greg might actually be going somewhere, but she's not at the point yet where she's willing to discuss exactly where the "where" might be.  While we feel her indecision regarding their relationship, I want to push her from behind and tell her to go for it (just my opinion).

When the ending finally comes, and we find out the truth about Sandra's death and why, it was completely believable.  The ends were woven nicely, and all the pieces fell into place, even Jill's receiving help when in a tight situation came within the range of possibility.

Ms. Gardner writes in such a pleasing manner, and creates such endearing (and some not so endearing) characters that I want to visit South Cover myself and meet these people.  Highly recommended.       

http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Run-Lynn-Cahoon/dp/1601834187/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1355637841

In the Drink (Mack's Bar Mysteries #3)

Author:  Allyson K. Abbott
Genre:  Mystery

Paperback; ebook
ISBN #:  9780758280190
Kensington
336 Pages
$7.99; $5.84 Amazon

Three Stars

By day, Mackenzie "Mack" Dalton is the proprietress of a popular Milwaukee watering hole.  But after last call, she uses her unique cocktail of extra perceptive senses to help solve some of the city's most grisly homicides.  Now, Mack and her barstool detectives are happy to help when Tiny, one of the bar's newest patrons, asks them to look into his sister's murder.  Though the case has gone cold, Mack's heightened senses quickly put her on the killer's trail.   But when a throng of reporters intrigued by her talents descends on Mack's Bar, her efforts are muddled as a real-life Moriarty begins putting her infamous skills to the test, leaving Mack feeling shaken and stirred...

********

Mackenzie Dalton has synesthesia - she doesn't feel something without smelling it, hear something without tasting it, etc.  And because she helped the police (even though they weren't happy about it) solve murders using her gift, she's gone into self-imposed hiding.  She's also received letters which can be construed as fan letters, and those from what she considers kooks.  But one...this last one appears to be someone playing a game with her.  He, or she, tells her if she doesn't figure out something unusual about the letter within a specified period of time, someone close to her will die.  And she must do it alone, without the help of authorities, because, as the letter states, 'I am watching you,'  So she figures out a way to involve her maybe-boyfriend, police detective Duncan Albright, even though there is a first body discovered that lets her know this person means business.  She also enlists the help of a couple of her friends from The Capone Club, a group of people who like solving crimes.

But one of the members of the club, Tiny, asks Mack to help him find out who killed his sister twelve years ago.  There are a list of four possible suspects, and he wants Mack's help to find out who really did it.  The police have closed the case as a cold file, but Tiny knows the answer is within the pages of the the evidence they collected.  So Mack sets out on her tasks of staying ahead of the person who is baiting her, and also trying to help Tiny find out the truth regarding his sister's murder.

This book, the third in the series, started out well, giving us a mystery we could follow along with Mack as she tries to figure out who the killer is.  Along the way we are given a second mystery to solve, that of Tiny's trying to find out his sister's killer.  And all through the book I did my best to see if there were any clues as to who the killer was.  It was interesting to see Mack use her gift to try and figure out the answers to the puzzles before the time limit was up, while stretching herself to help a friend.

But here is where my problem lies and why I only gave it three stars:  I feel cheated.  To put it bluntly, we do not find out who the killer is.  As anyone who has read the other reviews by now knows, the book ends...just like that.  Now that might seem like an okay thing; it is, if it's a television series and you're going to find out what happens the next week, or even a couple of months from now when the new TV season begins.  It is not so good of a thing if you have to wait a year or more to find out the answer.  Obviously, I would have enjoyed resolution to the book, and finding out "whodunit."  For me, this would have made the book so much more enjoyable.  However, the writing was well done and the rest of the book was an easy read.

http://www.amazon.com/In-Drink-Macks-Bar-Mysteries/dp/075828019X/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1352863942

  

Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow

Author:  David Stenn
Genre:  Biography

Hardcover
ISBN: 9780385421577
Doubleday
370 Pages
Price Varies
September 1, 1993

Five Stars

Her name epitomizes an era, a decade of Depression in which harsh reality created a demand for lush film fantasy - and no Hollywood star was as luscious or fantastic as Jean Harlow.  She was MGM's most bankable asset, a blonde bombshell whose bleached hair, voluptuous body, and bawdy humor inspired a fervent cult following that remains to this day.

Despite Harlow's blinding fame, the events of her life have been obscured by a fifty-year haze of secrets, lies and silence.  Until now.  Finally, after years of research, critically acclaimed biographer David Stenn has unearthed the truth behind the improbable rise of this tow-headed tomboy from Kansas City, her huge success, and her tragic fall.

Harlow's life was a host of contradictions.  She was both "the Platinum Blonde," a woman who iced her nipples and bleached her pubic hair, and "the Baby," a shy, sweet woman-child who liked to hem-stitch on film sites.  A bizarre cast of characters surrounded her, including Howard Hughes, Bugsy Siegel, George Cukor, and David O. Selznick, as well as Harlow's obsessive mother, her gigolo stepfather, and her second husband, Paul Bern, the mystery of whose grisly death is solved in Bombshell.

Controversy surrounds her death.  How could a twenty-six-year-old star with no history of serious illness leave work with 'a cold' and die ten days later?  Why, if her condition was critical, had she been confined to her home?  Now, after fifty-six years, David Stenn has persuaded Harlow's family, friends, colleagues and employers to break their silence and provide previously sealed legal, financial, and medical records, which solve the mystery of her death.  His account is confirmed by scores of exclusive interviews with eyewitness sources, including Harlow's nurses during the last days of her life.

Exhaustively researched and compulsively readable, Bombshell will stand as the definitive Harlow biography.

********

Loving classic movies the way I do, I am always anxious to get my hands on biographies of stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.  Sometimes I find them to be very good, other times they can be real stinkers that, shall we say, stretch the truth slightly; and others that are filled with downright lies about stars and their lives.  You will get the ones that are biased either in favor of or against the person they are writing about.  A recent one I read was so filled with lies and distortion that I regretted the fact I'd even bought it, wishing I could return it to the store.  I already know enough about most of the true stars of Hollywood that if there is an exaggeration or lie in a book I'll spot it right off.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by Mr. Stenn's book.  He obviously has a fondness for Jean Harlow and who she was; or should I say who she wasn't.  Because, you see, she wasn't really anyone.  Let me clarify that statement.

Jean Harlow was born into a wealthy family as Harlean Carpenter.  Her mother, Jean Harlow Carpenter, was a grasping, miserly, greedy, selfish and controlling woman.  Almost like a female Scrooge - except there was no redeeming this woman.  She wanted to be an actress, and when that didn't pan out, she had Harlean, and decided to groom her for stardom.  So an actress Harlean became, taking her mother's name.

She married three times - Charles McGrew II, Paul Bern, and Hal Rosson.  None of the marriages lasted very long, and all for the same reason - her mother broke them up.  She had a tremendous hold on Jean, and was afraid of losing control of "her Baby," which is the name Jean would be called throughout her short life.  She would have married a fourth time - to the actor William Powell, but he refused to marry her, not wanting to marry another actress because he was divorced from Carole Lombard, and hated being known as "Mrs. Carole Lombard."  Perhaps if he'd had his great success as an actor earlier in his career instead of later, things might have changed his mind and married her, but they hadn't, and he didn't.  I have often wondered if he felt he'd made a mistake after Jean's death.

Jean was loved by everyone who knew her, and she was always considerate of others' feelings, both on and off the set.  She was natural in herself, yet had very little self-confidence and was always looking for others' approval.

For years she played the tramp, fallen woman, mantrap, etc.  She hated the roles and wanted something better, but it wasn't until Red-Headed Woman (a favorite of mine) that she was given the opportunity to shine, and her best role was in Bombshell, where she truly showed her acting chops.

But none of it made any difference.  Her mother (and stepfather Marino Bello) lived off her earnings and told her what to wear, what to eat, etc.  Mother Jean had such control over young Jean that unlike Jean herself, Mother Jean was universally detested.

When Jean died of kidney failure at the age of 26, the entire world was shocked.  Hollywood mourned.  Her mother insisted almost to the end that she merely had influenza, and by the time she called for real help, it was too late to save her daughter.

Her life was a sad one.  Wife, widow, actress, daughter - but never a mother, and that is what Jean Harlow wanted most.  A husband and family, but somehow that happiness managed to elude her.  I would guess that a large part of that was because of her mercenary mother.  How different her life would have been if Baby could have escaped her mother's clutches.  But her short life was not wasted.  In her films, we are able to glimpse her life, how beautiful she was, and her winning smile is magical.

This is a heartfelt biography, and highly recommended for all fans (or future fans) of Jean Harlow and her mystique.

http://www.amazon.com/Bombshell-Life-Death-Jean-Harlow/dp/0385421575/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1350857025

Murder at Barclay Meadow

Author:  Wendy Sand Eckel
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; ebook
ISBN #:  9781250058607
Minotaur Books
320 Pages
$13.48 Amazon; $12.99 ebook
July 28, 2015

Five Stars

Rosalie Hart's world has been upended.  After her husband confesses to an affair, she exiles herself to her late aunt's farmhouse on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  With its fields untended and the house itself in disrepair, Barclay Meadow couldn't be more different than the tidy D.C. suburb she used to call home.  Just when Rosalie feels convinced things couldn't get any worse, she finds a body floating in her marsh grasses.  When the sheriff declares the death an accident, she becomes suspicious.  The dead girl, Megan, reminds her of her own daughter, who has recently gone off to college, and she feels a responsibility to find out the truth.

Rosalie confides her doubts to her friends in her creative writing class, and they ask to join her investigation, beginning in earnest.  Meanwhile, Rosalie works on restoring Barclay Meadow to its former glory - with the help from the rugged Tyler Wells, a farmer who once leased the land.  When Rosalie discovers her aunt's favorite bread recipe on a yellowed index card, she begins baking, and with her deep love for nourishing others rekindled, she starts to feel alive again.  But as she zeroes in on the truth about what happened to Megan, she begins getting ominous threats.  Determined to get justice for Megan and protect the new home she's begun to build for herself, Rosalie races to catch the killer in this deftly plotted and heartwarming debut.             

********

Rosalie Hart has just discovered her husband Ed is having an affair, and told her he's in love with the woman, so Rosalie moved out and headed off to the Maryland Shore for Barclay Meadow, the farm her Aunt Charlotte left to her in her will.

But all is not well.  She steps outside her house one afternoon and notices something in the nearby water - that something appears to be a dead body.  She calls the sheriff and after a few questions and the removal of the body, it is ruled a suicide.  But Rosalie knows it was something else - why would the girl kill herself in a nice dress and wearing a backpack?  When she suggests the same to the sheriff, he becomes belligerent - no, angry - with her and tells her to leave it alone and get on with her life.  She soon learns the girl's name was Megan, a student at the local college.

But Rosalie thinks she owes it to the girl to find out who killed her, the reason being she has a daughter, Annie, about the same age as Megan, and can't leave it alone.  So she attends Megan's funeral, and after talking with one of the attendees, Rhonda, her suspicions are growing.

So Rosalie joins a creative writing class but can't think of anything to write.  She makes friends with three of the students - Sue Ling, Tony Ricci, and Glenn, who find out her dilemma and think that they should investigate the drowning and prove it was murder.  

But how to go about it?  They can't let anyone know what they are doing, because the sheriff has taken an unreasonable dislike to Rosalie and threatens her every chance he gets, so she vows to stay out of his way.  Yet they make a list of suspects and try to figure out ways to decide which one of them committed the murder, knowing that because of where Megan was found, the killer must be close by.  And Rosalie knows that if someone killed once and gets away with it, there is a possibility they will kill again.

She also finds out that her husband Ed has frozen all her accounts and she has to figure out a way to stay on the farm without an income.  But there is a guardian angel - sort of.  A hunky farmer/handyman named Tyler shows up at her door and tells her he has farmed the land for years for Charlotte and will do the same for her - all she needs to do is accept the check he gives her and he gets to keep all the profits from the crops.  As a temporary fix, it will work, but Rosalie needs to find a way to make more money.

To add to her problems, her daughter Annie wants her to get back with Ed, never mind the fact that he has moved his new love Rebecca into her home and obviously isn't interested in a reunion, and Rosalie doesn't know what to do help her.  And Tyler is very secretive about his life, showing up ever day to work and helping himself to coffee in her kitchen throughout the day - but keeping mum about his private life and past.

But again back to the murder - Rosalie and her friends have split up duties - Sue is using the internet (including Facebook - like it or not, it's a big part of today's culture) to find answers, Glenn is keeping close to Lila, who works for the sheriff, and Tony is helping Rosalie do "recon" work when needed.  But the closer she gets to the truth, the more threatening the sheriff gets to her, which only fuels her belief that Megan was murdered, and there seems to be a cover up, and Sheriff Wilgus might be a part of it.

This is the first mystery from Ms. Eckel, and she has a welcome voice in the mystery writing community.  The writing is crisp, the plot tight.  Even though there are actually many subplots occurring within the solving of Megan's murder, Ms. Eckel manages to make it all work and keep it interesting throughout the book.  Everything flowed; everything was believable.  There were no outlandish situations (I never once had to say to myself, 'yeah, that would happen in real life,') and that is a huge plus in this novel.  It also takes place over several months - the mystery isn't solved in a week or two.  It's not your typical cozy; the characters are three-dimensional and you can immerse yourself in their lives as you read.  The ending completely satisfying, and I enjoyed spending time with Rosalie and the people who surround her.  Mystery lovers should enjoy this book.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-at-Barclay-Meadow-Mystery/dp/1250058600/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1348931049

Murder Comes Calling (A Rex Graves Mystery)

Author:  C. S. Challinor
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense

Paperback; ebook
ISBN #:  9780738745480
Midnight Ink
216 Pages
$11.95; $11.99 Kindle
August 8, 2015

Five Stars

When a spate of murders takes place in the quiet riverfront community of Notting Hamlet in South-Central England, Scottish barrister Rex Graves is called upon to lend his investigatory expertise.  For the first time in his sleuthing career, Rex finds he has good reason to fear for his life.

********

Rex Graves is a Scottish advocate (barrister) who has traveled from his home in Edinburgh to the small community of Notting Hamlet in England to help his friend from college, Malcolm Patterson, a retired pathologist.

It seems Malcolm was called on by a neighbor when she went calling on another, Ernest Blackwell, 81, and saw his feet sticking out from his piano through the window of his home and feared something had happened to him.  Something had happened indeed.  Ernest had been murdered, nearly decapitated by a piano wire.  Shortly thereafter, three more bodies were found - Barry Burns, 79; Vic Chandler, 55; and Valerie Trotter, 47 - all murdered, and all in different fashion.  Odder still was the fact that all four had their homes up for sale and were planning to move from Notting Hamlet.  The chief suspect in the murders is their real estate agent, Clint Walker, his footprint having been on the mat of Mr. Blackwell, although no prints were found inside.

But the reason Malcolm called Rex to help - Rex being very good at solving murders in the past - was because of what Malcolm had found on the victims' foreheads:  The letters MNP, his initials, written in the victims' blood.  Fearing someone was out to frame him, he erased the letters and told no one of their existence.  He was afraid that the police may have the wrong man, and he needs Rex's help to find the true murderer.

So when Malcolm tells Rex of this development, he is naturally upset and insists that Malcolm go to the police with this information, telling him it is a serious crime to tamper with evidence and that he has now brought him into it.  After agreeing to do so, Malcolm tells Rex one more thing that didn't make sense; the letter N was backwards, and he wondered if Mr. Walker, if he indeed committed the crime, was dyslexic.

So Rex now has the beginnings of a mystery to solve, and indeed it is quite a mystery:  Four victims, all murdered, and in different fashion.  There is no one M.O. to indicate it was the same person, they had nothing in common except the fact that they were going to sell their homes.  Or did they?  For as Rex digs deeper and finds ways to talk to the residents of Notting Hill, he soon finds that there may be more to the murders than just wanting to sell their homes, and he begins to doubt that the agent may have committed the murders.

And before he discovers the killer or killers, he may inadvertently - with the unwitting help of his old friend Malcolm - put himself and Malcolm in danger from being the next victims in Notting Hill.

This mystery was all I could have asked for, and more.  Rex Graves, Scottish lawyer with a penchant for solving murders, has a wonderful ability to take bits of information and figure out how they piece together, adding snippets of conversations and things he, with his wonderful mind, finds out on his own by doing heavy research.  He never forgets the details; and it is the details that make all the difference in finding out the truth.

I must admit that Ms. Challinor threw in a couple of red herrings, which I followed, unfortunately, and would have brought me to the wrong conclusion in the end.  But isn't this the way a mystery should be?  If you find out the murderer too soon, you've spoiled the book for yourself.  I love a good mystery that makes me think right along with the protagonist, and this was such a book.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Comes-Calling-Graves-Mystery/dp/0738745480/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1346065258

Mrs. Pargeter's Principle (Mrs. Pargeter #7)

Author:  Simon Brett
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; ebook
ISBN #:  9781780290744
Creme de la Crime; First World Publication edition
192 Pages
$21.11 Hardcover Amazon; $20.05 Kindle
August 1, 2015

Five Stars

For Mrs. Pargeter, it is a matter of principle that she should complete any of her late husband's unfinished business.  Amongst the many bequests he made to her, perhaps the most valuable is his little black book, in which he listed all the people who ever worked for him, with details of their particular skill sets.  This means that whenever Mrs. P has a crime to solve she can readily contact someone with the relevant expertise to help her in her enquiries.

Attending the funeral of the rich and respected Sir Normington Winthrop, because his is one of the names in the little black book, Mrs. Pargeter sets out to discover the connection between Sir Normington and her late husband.  Her investigations will draw her into a shady world of gun-runners, shifty politicians - and a kidnapped vicar.

********

Mrs. Pargeter, her friends Gary, her chauffeur, and Truffler Mason, owner of a detective agency, are attending the funeral of one of her late husband's former employee, Sir Normington Winthrop.  Not because she knew the man, but because he was listed in the little black book Mr. P willed to her, and Mrs. P thought it was the right thing to do.

While there, she is approached by a man named Edmund Grainger who warns her to stay away from Winthrop's widow, Helena.  Mrs. Pargeter refuses to be cowed by the man but takes her friends and leaves, stating 'not to be where she isn't wanted.'  However, she is now curious as to why she was being warned off, and decides to find out.

But before she can begin her investigation, she needs to meet with more of the people in the little black book, 'Gizmo' Gilbert, whom she has learned has fallen on hard times...and Samantha Pinkerton, whose father has recently died (another employee) and wants to marry her boyfriend Kelvin, but doesn't approve of what he does for a living "he's a criminal," she tells Mrs. P;...and Erin Jarvis, the daughter of another deceased employee.

She proceeds to help out Gizmo without his knowledge; assure Samantha of a glorious wedding that won't cost her anything, including providing the vicar, and ask Erin to help her find information on the elusive past of Normington Winthrop - for it seems, aside from a first page in the little black book, there appears to be very little other information to go on.  And since she was approached by Edmund Grainger, she becomes very curious indeed.

When she meets another former employee, a vicar by the name of 'Holy' Smirke, and asks him to officiate at the wedding, she also asks him about his early days with her husband.  Yet he has another appointment who has just arrived to meet him, and requests she call him later and they will discuss it.   But when she calls, the vicar has disappeared; and it appears from a witness nearby that he has been kidnapped.  Now Mrs. P, with the help of Truffler and Gary (also former employees), is determined to find her vicar in time for the wedding in three weeks.

And here we have a very detailed plot, which is quite a bit of fun to read.  It seems that Mr. Pargeter was more than just the philanthropist Mrs. Pargeter says he was, yet when we are given bits and pieces of stories about his past, Mrs. P pretends not to understand what anyone is talking about, and the subject is immediately changed.  The book is filled with colorful characters with just as colorful names, and they all seem to have a certain set of specialized skills - skills that Mrs. P. calls upon, and they are happy to provide, having a great fondness for their late employer and his widow. 

And as she gets closer to finding information about the late Sir Winthrop, greater steps are taken by Mr. Grainger to ensure she does not.

We soon find out that all these subplots are connected somehow, and trust me when I say that blending them all together is a masterpiece of sheer delight.  I can only imagine what an interesting life Mr. and Mrs. Pargeter must have led, and Mrs. P carrying on for him as best she can.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Pargeters-Principle-featuring-Pargeter/dp/1780290748/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1343354939