Murder at Keyhaven Castle by Clara McKenna
Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: A Stella and Lyndy Mystery #3
Publication Date: 6/29/21
Period: Edwardian – 1905 Hampshire, England
Number of Pages: 304
** 4.5-Stars **

I came to absolutely adore Stella and Lyndy over the last two books. She’s the filthy rich American heiress and he’s the pockets-to-let English heir to an earl. I know you are thinking – so what – that is the theme of a lot of historical romances. True, but these two are really special and they both do a lot of growing and changing over the course of these three books. Of course, they also find dead bodies and solve murders while they are at it.

Only a couple of days left until the wedding and Lyndy and Stella are so excited. They can hardly wait to begin their new lives together. Stella’s father is still just as awful, overbearing, hateful, manipulative, demanding, and downright mean as ever, but he’ll be headed back to Kentucky once the wedding is over. Happy sighs will be heard by all.

Stella’s father demands she travel with him to Southampton to meet his friends from America who are coming in for the wedding. While waiting, they witness a horrendous accident that results in a man being trampled to death by horses. Definitely not a very auspicious welcome for her father’s friends.

To relieve some of the mounting tensions between family members, unwelcome guests, invited guests, and hosts, Stella plans an outing to nearby Keyhaven Castle. While the guests are exploring the castle another tragedy occurs. This one turns Stella’s world upside down.

Can Lyndy and Stella find the murderer? Are all of the murders related? After an attempt is made on Stella’s life, they know they have to solve the murder – and quickly – or they may never have their wedding.

This is a wonderfully well-written, well-plotted mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page. There are lots of suspects and lots of motives – Stella and Lyndy just have to find the right one. I rated this book at 4.5 stars because I wanted to learn a bit more about Jedidiah Kendrick. Perhaps we’ll learn more in the next book, but this one just sort of left the fate of his two children unknown. I’m sure Stella and Lyndy would see them cared for, but we didn’t actually learn that. I just wanted a bit of closure there.

I highly recommend this book – and this series – and I hope you’ll love it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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