Christmas with Death — M.A. Lee

Christmas is for miracles, merriment, and murder. An English country Christmas in 1919 should be a joyful celebration.  Isabella Newcombe, however, discovers only petty sniping and bitterness when she and her friends (Cecilia Arkwright and the brothers Madoc and Gawen Tarrant) are invited to Emberley. Sir Reginald and the Malvaise family filled the grand house with friends, acquaintances, and business associates.  With money tight, Isabella and her friends enjoy the rich meals, hot fires, and comfortable rooms. Yet rumors of affaires and drug addiction as well as accusations of blackmail sour the holiday atmosphere.  And the invitation to the four friends was driven by an avid relish to hear about Cecilia's upcoming divorce from her gaoled husband and the two deaths at Gawen Tarrant's archaeological dig in October. They plan to leave before New Year's Eve, then Isabella and her fiancé Madoc discover the body of a fellow visitor, shot dead and left lying in an ice-skimmed pond. With multiple motives and suspects, will Scotland Yard solve the crime before Isabella is the murderer's next target?  Will an imperfect murder be impossible to solve? A historical mystery of 53,000 words, Christmas with Death is the second novel in the Into Death series.  While it follows Digging into Death, it is not a sequel.  Each novel of the Into Death series is complete and not a cliff-hanger.  Readers, however, will have a richer experience should they read the first two novels in the series, as the primary characters repeat. Writer M.A. Lee also publishes the Hearts in Hazard 12-book series of mysteries set in the Regency era.