Lady Phoebe’s sister, Lady Julia, is hosting a house party and Coco Chanel with her entourage crash the party and decides it’s the perfect location for a photo shoot for her latest fashions. Her premiere model is murdered and it’s Phoebe and her Lady’s Maid, Eva, who unravel the rivalries, jealousies and entanglements and then there’s a second murder. ( )

Whether Alyssa Maxwell is writing an installment in her Gilded Newport Mysteries or her Lady and Lady’s Maid Mysteries, you can always depend that she is going to be true to the era, the dialogue and the moral dilemmas in which she casts her characters. She is a master of the genre and it is always a pleasure to be swept away in one of her beautifully descriptive and often hilarious murder mysteries.

I found it interesting that Maxwell took on the persona of Coco Chanel and while mildly tarnishing someone who deserved much harsher treatment her point came through. Revealed as a “self-absorbed shrew” who was capable of prevaricating anything and everything to achieve her purposes, she served as a competent foil for the purposes of this mystery.

It was heartening that Lady Phoebe’s maid Eva was given a louder and stronger voice in this installment. Always a steadying influence she is also shown to be a deep thinker and puzzle master. Not to minimize this well thought out and intricate murder mystery, due to Maxwell’s skillful depiction, I realized that I enjoyed the characters and their interactions as much as if not more than the plot. The Author’s Note was enlightening and while I brought substantial knowledge about Chanel the woman to this reading, I would have liked to have had the information in the Note before reading this book.

Thank you Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for this copy. ( )

The eighth in A Lady and a Lady's Maid mystery series has Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her maid Eva Huntford attending a house party at Lady Phoebe's sister Julia's home. Also in attendance are fashion designer Coco Chanel and her retinue who are there to take some photos of Coco's newest collection.

There are lots of undercurrents among the retinue. The photographer Narcisse seems to have conducted affairs with a few of them. And Coco's lover Ralph Hewitt-Davies, Earl of Chesterhaven, has also had an affair with the lead mannequin Suzette Villiers who is extremely jealous that Coco has brought in a new, younger mannequin named India Vale.

When Suzette is found dead in her bedroom from smoke inhalation, Julia wants to blame the head footman for not checking that the flue was open, but Phoebe and Eva are more inclined to believe that it was murder.

As they investigate, they learn more about the twisted history Suzette had with the others in Coco's retinue. And Phoebe is busy trying to keep her sister from falling for Coco's pressure to model her new line of clothing - something no upper class woman in 1921 England would ever be allowed to do. While Phoebe herself is tempted by Coco's new line that takes male tweeds and remakes them in a much more feminine way.

Phoebe is also having some qualms about her beau Owen's vision of their future. He seems to have been developing dictatorial tendencies that make Phoebe fear for her independence.

I enjoyed this mystery. I liked that Phoebe conducted the above stairs aspect of the investigation while Eva ably handled the below stairs aspects of the investigation. I liked the way they worked as almost equal partners considering the barriers class imposed.

This is the first of the series that I have read. I am eager to read earlier books in this series to learn more about the other mysteries Lady Phoebe and Eva have solved. ( )

murder, murder-investigation, cozy-mystery, 1920s, class-consciousness, historical-novel, historical-research, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, Cotswolds, England, family-dynamics, relatives, country-house, rural, injured-veteran, historical-figures, historical-places-events, friendship, falsely accused****

I've read several nonfiction accounts that support the self-centered ruthlessness of Coco Chanel. The descriptions of her behaviors, the way she treated her employees, and the detailed description of her clothing designs all ring true.
Phoebe, Eva, and Mme Chanel were invited to Julia's home. None of the entourage were invited, and that sparks the rest of the tale. First untoward event is a riding incident caused by a foolish young woman. Then another is dead of smoke inhalation with the wrong person accused. The sisters have different views on whether the fire was an accident or deliberate. And so the sleuthing begins! A good read.
It is a well formulated story with many fascinating, if exasperating, characters and excellent world building. A nice easy read, I loved it!
I requested and received an EARC from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )