Publisher's Synopsis
A new series for fans of M.C. Beaton, Agatha Christie, and Jessica Fletcher.
Daphne Noble is looking forward to a quiet country Christmas with her beloved grandmother. All is calm. All is bright. It is the tiny village of Mill-Upon-Mortlake in sleepy Somerset, after all.
Unfortunately, Christmas spirit turns to Christmas spite when the village's age-old rival, the larger town of Shrewsberry, decides to put on the same Christmas panto as Mill-Upon-Mortlake. (The nerve!) However, once Lady Mortlake chooses Mill-Upon-Mortlake as the recipient of the priceless Star of Somerset and her annual Christmas largesse, Shrewsberry is the one left sulking!
When the silver and sapphire heirloom goes missing from the church hall, suspicion blankets the village. Could it be an infiltrator from Shrewsberry? A disgruntled employee of the Mortlake Estate? Or is it someone closer to home?
Daphne is determined not to let an unsolved mystery ruin her first Christmas in the village. She just has to find the star, manage the village shop, and keep tensions between Shrewsberry and Mill-Upon-Mortlake from turning into a minor civil war. Thank goodness she has her reluctant sidekick, Mr. Gainsworth, beside her and her faithful terrier, Bertie, at her heels.
Now all Daphne needs is a little Christmas miracle to bring peace back to the village before Christmas Eve!
Welcome to Mill-Upon-Mortlake, Somerset, England. This late Victorian-era village is picturesque, the apples are the best in the county, the locals are kind (as long as you're local, too), and mysteries are never far away.
Join Daphne Noble, a London lass who moves to Mill-Upon-Mortlake expecting to work in the village shop and keep an eye on her elderly grandmother, but instead ends up embroiled in one mystery after another.
You'll root for Daphne as her grit, gumption, and stubbornness slowly endear her to the locals--even if all of them wish she'd hurry up and get married like a respectable girl!
British Cozy mystery
Humor and heart
Low-violence
Victorian/Edwardian Era
