Cold-Blooded Myrtle

Cold-Blooded Myrtle / Elizabeth C. Bunce
NY: Algonquin, c2021.
368 p.

Just in time for Christmas, this latest entry into the Myrtle Hardcastle mystery series hits the spot! It's set at Christmastime -- Mr. Leighton, owner of Leighton's Mercantile, is found dead in his shop the day that his annual Christmas window display is set to be revealed. Myrtle is on the scene when this occurs, and she and her intrepid governess Miss Judson don't quite believe that this is all coincidental, especially as the window display has been rearranged to provide a clue to the murder. 

Myrtle must leap into action to try to track clues from the past, from the time that Mr. Leighton was a professor at a nearby college, before a mysterious scandal and a missing girl derailed that career. There are multitudinous suspects in their town, as she discovers with every new clue. And this has something to do with her long deceased mother. All of these elements combine to make a dashing story with red herrings flung about with abandon. 

This entry into the series gives us a little more about Myrtle and her own family, and digs into the relationships between many of the regulars. The lady journalist from the previous book is back, as well as Myrtle's young lawyer friend, and her nemesis La Rue Spence-Hastings. But every interaction has the possibility to surprise the reader, and I didn't guess the conclusion easily. Also, Miss Judson gets more to do here as well, and that was wonderful to read. 

There are also lots of footnotes (one of my favourite things about this series) and witty observations on Christmas itself. However, the book is set at Christmas, but it's not really about the holiday, and there isn't a heavy focus on Christmassy things. I'd have liked a little more actual Christmas in it, but then I absolutely love all things Victorian Christmas so I may be an outlier here ;) 

But another hit in this series, which fortunately has been extended to two more books. Looking forward to reading them next year!