Murder by Invitation by Verity Bright

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Today I am delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for the fifteenth book in The Lady Swift murder mystery series. Murder by Invitation sees Eleanor and Clifford back home at Henley Hall preparing for the King’s forthcoming birthday celebrations, that is until brutal murder by bunting puts a hold on the festivities.

Book Description

Lady Swift has been cordially invited to a huge royal celebration in Little Buckford to toast the King’s birthday… but wait, is that a body in the village hall?

Lady Eleanor Swift and her loyal butler Clifford are busy lending a hand with preparations for the big day. The grand dining room at Henley Hall is overflowing with home-sewn flags, paint and royal rosettes. Even Gladstone the bulldog and his new friend Tomkins the ginger cat are invited!

But just days before the event Mr Prestwick-Peterson, the chairman of the celebrations committee, is found dead in the village hall: strangled with handmade red, white and royal blue bunting.

With the village hall in total disarray and a key part of the decorations missing, Eleanor wonders if someone dastardly is sabotaging the King’s birthday celebrations?Teaming up with her handsome beau Detective Hugh Seldon to question the local butcher, baker, and pub landlord it becomes clear that the meddlesome busybody Mr Prestwick-Peterson was not universally liked in charming Little Buckford. Indeed, the only mystery is why he wasn’t murdered before…

Searching Mr Prestwick-Peterson’s pristinely organised rooms, Eleanor is surprised to find a faded photograph of a beautiful young woman hidden within the pages of a novel. Could this be the key to untangling this very village murder? And can Eleanor catch the killer before the party is over for her, too?

A totally charming, unputdownable Golden Age murder mystery with characters readers will adore. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss.

My thoughts

This is without doubt my favourite of the series so far. It’s good to be back at Henley Hall and the village of Little Buckford. Eleanor and Clifford were their usual entertaining selves and with the addition of Gladstones furry friend, Tomkins and Eleanor’s fiance, Hugh, the investigative team just seem to get better and better. As much fun as these stories are there are also serious historical events running through them and it’s always a delight to get a taste and the handy accompanying notes at the end.

This time Eleanor is trying to track down person or persons unknown who have murdered the most hated man in the village. It seems that they are swamped with possible suspects and are finding it hard to see the wood for the trees. Before long another body is found and certain clues suggest that the murders are being conducted by an anti-royalist. Hugh is under increasing pressure to make an arrest before the King’s birthday. With tensions increasing, and Eleanor desperate to make sure an innocent man isn’t held accountable events take an incredibly dangerous turn. I must admit I couldn’t quite see how she and Clifford would get themselves out of danger. Could book 15 be the final Eleanor Swift mystery? You’ll have to read to find out. I really enjoyed it and I love the way Verity builds her relationships between her characters. Each book has seen them grow and has made me feel even closer to them. With plenty of peril, laughter, adventure, and the odd reference to food thrown in (how does this woman stay so slim!), Murder by Invitation has been another welcome escape from the modern world.

Thank you so much to the lovely team at Bookouture for inviting me to join this book tour and for sending me the digital copy to read. This series is just crying out to be made into a television series. 🙂

About the author

Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Verity Bright here: https://www.bookouture.com/verity-bright

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0C85XKDNVsocial

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo

I awoke

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I awoke this morning with all these thoughts

With a jumble of noise running through my head

The worries and fears that lay underneath

the surface of everything else.

How heavy it sits when the world is silent.

When all else sleeps and rests.

The mind that managed a little calm is tormented once again.

So many thoughts, so many fears, how can one person bare it?

No holiday can cure an anxious mind, one that has so much to process.

Calm and quiet for a little while,

only to awaken with the force

of a storm in the night whilst the world sleeps on.

A storm that batters and bruises

an island that feels so alone.

Out of reach of the mainland to weather the storm in silence.

Too much is the wind and rain,

the dark cloud that settles all over

letting no light in.

Letting no light in.

When hope feels so far away

and a tumultuous mind wins over

how small we feel,

like a tiny ship

cast away

on an endless sea.

Soothing is the pen on paper

bleed onto the page instead

Dampen the flame of anxiety

with gentle tears as you return to bed

Sleep a little more to soothe the soul

drift off on to calmer seas

The light will return eventually

and all is as it is meant to be.

And you danced

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And you danced

Just for a moment you were lost to the music

Lost to a memory, a different place and time

The melody moving through your body the lyrics caressing your lips

Loneliness is banished as you become part of the song

Eyes closed, head tilted towards the sky, the years fall away. Your solitude disappeared and you were there and alive again

For a short while.

On the cusp of something new…

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I sit and write this in my last few hours of being in my 40s. Part of me is quietly in shock that time has passed so quickly. But here I am indeed and this and quite a few other things of late have caused me a great deal of reflection. It’s not just me getting older but it is the steady march of time that we are all trying to hold on to. But through our fingers it slips and the days turn into weeks, into months and then before we know it into years.

Only yesterday I was walking reluctantly into school, travelling to college, work, a wedding (or two), having a baby, moving house, changing jobs, career choices….now here I am and I try to live in the moment but the moments slip by so,so quickly.

Does turning 50 bother me? A little I suppose. I am grateful for the life I lead though and the wonderful people I share it with. If I could tell my younger self anything it would be to not worry so much and to slow down. Enjoy the sunrise and the sun set, the birds singing and the wind blowing. Life is so incredibly precious and no matter where I am on my journey I know that I enter the next chapter a little wiser and very grateful.

A few pictures from a rather lovely day – my last day of being 49. 😊