After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, divorced neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor Jo Jones is happy to inherit a family estate in North Yorkshire and leave New York City behind.
Jo is used to not fitting in, and she expected her Americanisms and her autism to set her apart in the English countryside. What she didn't expect was finding the body of the estate's caretaker-- a man she'd fired the day before-- dead on the rug in her cottage. Not only is she in potential danger, but Jo is also a potential suspect.
When a strange family portrait disappears from Jo's inherited manor house, she finds herself on the trail of the missing painting... and a killer.
~
When I read the synopsis of Brandy Schillace's The Framed Women of Ardemore House, I couldn't resist. A transplanted American in the depths of Yorkshire? A book-loving heroine who just doesn't fit in? A derelict mansion with secret rooms? A neglected garden? A missing painting? A murder? It's as if the author knew all my hot buttons and tried to press as many of them as she could in one book. Was she successful? Yes, she was!
Jo's voice immediately drew me into the story. Her inheritance is an estate that's been vacant since 1908. It's in bad shape, but at least there's also a cottage she can move into. When she first arrives, the solicitor tries to shuffle her off to the cottage and away from the ramshackle country house, but "Jo was standing in front of Wuthering Heights, and no, she did not want to go poke around a cottage." I don't blame her, especially when she goes inside and "...her heart leapt; she'd caught a glimpse of distant book spines. 'It's a library?' she asked."
This book may be Jo's show, but Schillace surrounds her with an excellent supporting cast. There's the lovestruck Welsh antiques dealer, Gwilym; Tula, the innkeeper's wife who's a fellow outsider; and DCI James MacAdams, who "looked like Sam Spade tangled with Columbo and got the worst of it."
The solution to the mystery was something completely different, and I didn't pick up on it although my hindsight showed me where clues had been planted all along the way. I was even suspicious of a character whom I should have been suspicious of, but I couldn't figure out how that person fit in. I love it when that happens!
If you're in the mood for a fun read, by all means, pick up The Framed Women of Ardemore House. The ending is rather open-ended, and I'm really hoping that I'll have a chance to see Jo Jones again. I love her.
The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace
eISBN: 9780369747716
Hanover Square Press © 2024
eBook, 355 pages
Amateur Sleuth, #1 Netherleigh mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
This sounds really appealing, Cathy. I do like the fish-out-of-water plot point when it's done well, and that house sounds fascinating. And of course, the setting interests me, too. I may have to put this on the 'further exploration' list...
ReplyDeleteI think you should, Margot!
DeleteIt's such a great premise! Glad the story lived up to your hopes. This does sound like a very fun mystery. :D
ReplyDeleteIt is! Jo had me smiling and chuckling many times.
DeleteOh this one does sound fun. I'm going to see if my library has it. Thanks for telling about it!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I'm always happy to add to a reading list. ;-)
DeleteWow, this sounds like a great read for my hot summer days. What a terrific review.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gaye!
DeleteI have this on my TBR list as a result of your earlier post mentioning it (though I can't recall whether it was a release or an ebook purchase), so I'm delighted to see such a positive review.
ReplyDeleteIt must've been one of my eBook purchase posts.
DeleteI may try it, but this library book pile and my kitchen table are full of unread books and it may have to wait.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it will mind, Kathy.
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