Welcome to the Flora Maguire series of cosy mysteries set in early twentieth-century England. My main character, Flora, sits between two worlds. Brought up on the Cotswold estate of Earl Trent and his family, she shared a schoolroom with their three daughters. Her father, Riordan, was the head butler.
Her mother, Lily, died when she was a small child and Flora’s memories of her are vague. When she reached eighteen Flora was then employed as governess to Edward, Viscount Trent, known as Eddy, making her not quite a servant but not family either but with the ability to move seamlessly between the two. She learned early that young ladies should never parade their intellect, especially in front of their elders. Thus when she starts investigating murders this gives her an advantage in that servants are comfortable speaking to her but remain invisible to the aristocratic classes.
In Death on a Train, the latest instalment in the series, all Flora Maguire wants is to keep her family safe with war looming in 1905 London. But when a body is found on a train bound for Paddington and her beloved charge Viscount Edward Trent is accused of murder, she’s determined not to leave the investigation to the police. Flora has trodden the path of amateur sleuth before, but with so much at stake, this time it’s personal.
With the police more sure than ever that Edward is their murderer, Flora must work fast, if she’s going to save him, and ensure a murderer doesn’t remain on the loose!