Death Comes to the Nursery

November 15, 2019
A mix-up in the nursery forces two married Regency sleuths (Death Comes to Bath, 2018, etc.) to hunt down a killer. Lucy, Lady Kurland, is expecting her second child. Looking for extra help in the nursery, she decides to give Polly Carter, the cousin of her current nursery maid, Agnes, a try despite dire warnings about hiring someone so beautiful. Polly does very well with little Ned, but her beauty causes so many problems among the male staff that Lucy and Sir Robert would dismiss her if it weren't for their strong sense of fairness. Even Bert Speers, one of the ostlers from the inn in town, has been seen following her home. When Polly and James, who's understudying the butler's job, both vanish, it's assumed that they've run off until James is discovered dumped at his father's farm after having been bashed on the head and Polly's found strangled in a ditch. Feeling responsible for her, Robert and Lucy resolve to unmask her killer, but they don't reckon with the surprises coming their way. Agnes admits that Polly isn't her cousin and she's not even named Polly, though her cousin did ask Agnes to help the imposter get the job. Who is the mysterious stranger, and why did she want to work at Kurland Hall? Searching her room, Lucy finds some memorabilia that suggest she may be the actress Flora Rosa. Burt Speers is being held in the cellars at the inn as the most likely suspect, but his guilt is in doubt. Despite being weighed down by her pregnancy, Lucy refuses to let Robert go it alone, and they use all their resources to uncover a killer. A charming Regency mystery/romance with plenty of local color and unexpected twists and turns.

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December 9, 2019
In Lloyd’s skillful seventh Kurland St. Mary mystery (after 2018’s Death Comes to Bath), it’s 1825, and Lady Lucy and Sir Robert Kurland, who are expecting their second child, hire their servant Agnes’s London cousin, Polly Carter, to lend an extra hand. The Kurlands’ two-year-old son loves the strikingly beautiful new nursemaid, but her allure causes conflicts among the men of the household and village. When Polly is strangled, obvious suspects include Kurland Hall’s senior footman and a groom at the local inn, both of whom were seen with her shortly before her death. Then Agnes confesses that the murdered woman wasn’t her cousin but an imposter, who the real Polly Carter asked be hired in her place for unexplained reasons. Playbills left among the victim’s possessions suggest that she may be a London actress who goes by the name Flora Rosa. The tension rises with Robert and Lucy’s visit to London, where their investigation leads from theatrical circles into the private lives of the city’s aristocracy. Lloyd supplies a well-judged mix of domestic dramas and high-society intrigue. Agent: Deirdre Knight, Knight Agency.

January 1, 2020
Sir Robert Kurland, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, is delighted when his wife, Lucy, reveals that she is pregnant with their second child. In preparation, they take on a nursemaid, Polly, who settles in well, despite inspiring competition for her affections from the young men of the village, all smitten by her beauty. Polly takes her afternoon off to head into the village of Kurland St. Mary but fails to return. After she is found dead, Sir Robert and Lady Kurland investigate, suspecting the local boys. However, among the nursemaid's possessions are London playbills and a letter addressed to someone named Flora Rosa. With this limited information, the Kurlands travel to London to find answers. What they uncover as they explore the London theater world is a group of aristocrats in the habit of purchasing their mistresses. To expose the killer, Lucy and Robert must trust each other as they attempt to break through the misplaced loyalties that shield the miscreants in the midst of London society. Recommend this one to fans of Regency cozies, including Anna Lee Huber's Lady Darby series and Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)