A Fashionable Fatality

The latest in Maxwell’s 1920s-set “A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mystery” series (following A Deadly Endowment) has Phoebe Renshaw eager for a quiet getaway at her sister Julia’s estate, Allerton Hall. She’s dismayed to find that Coco Chanel and her large entourage are also guests of her sister and plan to use the estate in promotional photographs of the new Chanel collection. After Coco replaces her star model with a newcomer, tensions rise, and one member of the party turns up dead. Julia believes the death is accidental, but Phoebe and her lady’s maid Eva are certain foul play was involved. Using their access to both the wealthy guests and their employees to solve the crime, Phoebe and Eva race to uncover the truth before the guests depart. Plenty of suspects, hidden clues, historical details, and glimpses into the lives of the well-to-do and those who work for them add interest to this mystery.