Lord and Lady Northmoor have an interesting assortment of guests for the weekend. All 4 of them received blackmail letters. Then one of them is murdered. So Tommy and Evelyn begin their investigation despite the local police asking them not to. Aunt Em is there to help of course. Fun characters and a delightful, cozy mystery. ( )

1921 Hessleham Hall, East Yorkshire. The 7th Earl of Northmoor, and ex-policeman Tommy Christie, and his wife Evelyn, are holding a weekend house party which coincides with the village fete. The morning of which a body is discovered in a nearby stream. But why, and by whom.
DI Andrews and DS Montgomery investigate but Tommy and Evelyn feel that can help, and so ask their questions. Who will be the first to solve the case.
An enjoyable well-written, fast paced, cozy historical mystery, with its likeable main characters. I look forward to reading more in the series, and although this is the second in the series it can easily be read as a standalone story
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Tommy and Evelyn Christie are still adjusting to their new roles as Lord and Lady Northmoor as the village fete they plan to host approaches. What is not at all a part of their plan is the death of a Member of Parliament on the grounds of their home at Hessleham Hall in Murder at the Village Fete by author Catherine Coles.

While this ChristFic novella is the second Tommy and Evelyn Christie Mystery, it's the first book I've read by this author. I had no trouble catching on to the story, and I was particularly keen on all the references to World War I and its aftereffects.

This historical cozy mystery has bits of mild humor, but it isn't a frivolous read. What Tommy and Evelyn have been through adds some substance to their characters, and I really liked the last phase of the book, after the close of the murder case.

Now, this wasn't the most exciting read for me overall, and while the blurb compares it to Downton Abbey, I didn't find this book to have that kind of lush, vivid, and distinct flavor or atmosphere. Evelyn's recurring guilt over her methods while sleuthing detracts somewhat from the entertainment quality as a mystery, and the characters' frequent nodding becomes an overused action beat.

A few of the transitions within the scenes are awkward, with characters suddenly near or far or speaking to each other with no preceding description about them coming or going. Also, the high number of technical errors, including a great deal of incorrect punctuation, was enough to become a distraction for me. However, given that I read an advance copy, the errors may no longer be an issue.

A quick peek at the blurb for Book Three has me interested in what happens next.
__________
I received an advance reading copy of this book via BookSirens for an honest review. ( )