Katharine Schellman

Really enjoyed this book. Lily’s been invited to attend a house party with her in-laws just before Christmas. During the party the snow starts falling heavily and wind is howling. Roads are treacherous and everyone must stay overnight. There’s a loud bang and everyone assumes it’s a tree falling but the next morning one of the guests has been murdered. For two days, everyone is snowed in with a murderer and Lily and her brother-in-law, who’s a magistrate, question, and search everyone looking for cluses not only to the murder but to missing jewelry too.… (meer)

The premise is interesting and there is a lot going on in this story. A widow trying to get back into London society is invited to an old friend’s house party where she wanders out into the garden and overhears a blackmail scheme. As she hurries back to the house she hears a gunshot. This is the start of the cover-up and murder into Lily’s investigation. Her husband’s childhood friend finds her difficult and frustrating but along the way begins to admire her courage and intellect. My only compliant is that Lily is a little bit of a know-it-all and icy but maybe she’s supposed to be that formal in 1819 London… (meer)