Berdie and Hugh Elliot are starting a new chapter of their lives. As the new vicar in the small town of Aidan Kirkwood, Hugh is determined that Berdie's investigative journalist days are over. Both retired, they are ready for the simple, quiet life of an English village. But it is not to be.
A Christmas party, with the wrong mixture of guests, sets the stage for a horrific crime, and then a possible miscarriage of justice, with the wrong person arrested for the crime in jail. Berdie is determined, she has to get to the bottom of this mystery, Hugh is just as determined that she needs to stay out of it. Who killed the "lavender lady" Miss Livingstone? And what does an advent wreath have to do with the mystery? A sudden odd visit with a dark stranger causes Miss Livingstone's funeral to abruptly cancelled, and with the mystery growing deeper by the day, Hugh changes his mind about having Berdie see what she can dig up, but he is overtly cautious, and does not want Berdie to endanger herself in anyway.
Our gal Berdie, along with a little help from her best friend Lillie, dives into the sluething with vigor and soon uncovers a bevy of secrets that would shake Aidan Kirkwood up but good before it is all said and done. And the identity of the killer will be a shock to everyone in the village.
"Advent of A Mystery" is a delightfully charming story that, while set during Christmas-time, would be a joy to read any day of the year. Author Marilyn Leach lends her fasciantion with any and everything English to give the British "air" to this intriguing mystery, and I, for one, would love to see more stories about Berdie and Hugh and all their friends.
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher, Barbour Publishing. I was not compensated for my opinion.
