And Then There Was the One

An amateur sleuth finds love in this clever homage to Golden Age detective fiction from Waters (the Regency Vows series). There have been four murders in the tiny Cotswolds village of Buncombe-upon-Woolly in 1934 alone—and Georgiana “Georgie” Radcliffe has helped local law enforcement solve them all. When another villager turns up dead, Georgie suspects more foul play, but officials write it off as a heart attack. So Georgie reaches out to a famed London detective for assistance. Though the detective declines to come to Buncombe, he sends his secretary, Sebastian Fletcher-Ford, to investigate. With his good looks and charisma, Sebastian quickly charms both the locals and the “Murder Tourists” who have flocked to town out of morbid curiosity. Georgie, however, is committed to resisting Sebastian’s allure. As they work together to crack the case, Waters capably peels back the many layers of their personalities, highlighting Georgie’s intellect and anxieties and revealing that Sebastian’s playboy persona hides expert sleuthing skills. The love that blossoms along the way is entirely believable. Striking a beautiful balance between sweet romance and cozy mystery, this memorable tale is sure to please. (Oct.)