The Advocate's Wife — Norman Russell

Adelaide has had a good marriage to Sir William Porteous, and already she has launched two of her three daughters into society. But then disaster strikes. A homicidal dilettante makes a very public attempt on Sir William's life, and the ensuing investigation brings out some gruesome Porteous family skeletons. Set in late Victorian London and rural Essex, this novel features the chirpy but vulnerable Detective Inspector Arnold Box and his colleagues of Great Scotland Yard.