from this weird combo document of mine that included a recipe from Bowdoin College food services for pear parsnip soup.

Historical (1925) and contemporary blends -

At the onset of the novel, it is 1925 and Diana Pollefexen is awaiting the verdict at her trial for the murder of her husband George. The story of George's death is divulged little by little both contemporarily (to 1925) and later, after her grand-niece Helena receives word that her great aunt has died. Helena is going through her great-aunt's property and finds a journal entry telling about that day in court in 1925. Helena, through the help of other family members, friends, and further journal articles, begins to piece together her great-aunt's life, and realizes that her great aunt had a life of which Helena knew nothing. Helena is a major beneficiary in her great-aunt's will, but In order to accept Diana's legacy, she feels that she must decide for herself whether or not her aunt was a murderess.

Very well written, it will keep your attention through the end.

The characters are well drawn, the story is a good one, and I can definitely recommend this book. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The telling of the story in a non-predictable looking back through time was so much more compelling than a straight-forward from the view of the main character was delightful. A good read! ( )

I bought this small trade paperback to read on a plane. I like English murder mysteries, but even more I like well written books. The backcover blurb compares Elizabeth Ironside to Minette Walters and have to agree. I love many of Minette's books and I loved this book also.

The book opens on a trial for murder in 1925. A woman is accused of murdering her overbearing husband, but is acquitted. Several chapters explore the woman's life and the fateful weekend that her husband died. Many decades later the woman dies and leaves her house and estate to her niece (by remarriage). No one in the nieces' family even knew that Great-Aunt Diana was ever accused of murder since the great-aunt lead a secluded life of intensive gardening for many decades. The niece, a successful intellectual property lawyer with a secret affair with a married man, decides that she must solve the murder mystery before she can keep the house. During her investigations, she learns more than she knew she would about Diane, Diane's friends and family, and eventually even herself.

If you enjoy well written and detailed stories about the recent, but becoming dusty past, then this is definitely a book that you will love. ( )