Stella & Lyndy #5
Murder on Mistletoe Lane is the fifth book in Clara McKenna’s series about a newly-married couple, Stella Kendrick and Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst, set in the New Forest region of England in the early 1900s. Lyndy is the son of an impoverished aristocrat, and Stella is a wealthy American who grew up on a horse farm in Kentucky. Their marriage was arranged by their fathers and, happily, they fell in love not long after they met. But Lyndy’s mother, Lady Atherly, has always disapproved of Stella and her American ways, even though she needed Stella’s money to make improvements to the crumbling family estate, Morrington Hall. Stella and Lyndy share a love of horses, and some of the best scenes in the book are the ones where Stella takes her beloved mare, Tully, for a ride. Lady Atherly sees that her son and Stella are in love, and recently the two women have come to an uneasy truce, but they are still far from being friends.
As this book begins, it is Christmas of 1905, Stella’s first Christmas at Morrington Hall. She looks forward to celebrating the holiday with her new family and to participating in all the English Christmas traditions. At the same time, she can’t help wanting to share some American Christmas customs, including food such as popcorn and pecan pie, much to the objection of the cook, Mrs. Cole. Stella notices that some of her belongings have gone missing, as have some mince pies. The housekeeper, Mrs. Nelson, finds that a chambermaid has stolen the pies and promptly dismisses her without a reference, even though the maid will admit to stealing only the pies, not Stella’s belongings. Mrs. Nelson also seems like she wants to tell Stella something, but can’t bring herself to say it.
Lyndy’s family has been using Stella’s money to install a new boiler system just in time for their Christmas guests to arrive, but the system breaks down and everyone is freezing. The guests are members of a family, the Kentfields, who have been estranged from Lyndy’s family for a long time: Sir Edwin Kentfield, his wife Isabella, and their adult son Freddy. There is an immediate attraction between Freddy and Lyndy’s shy sister Alice. Lyndy does not know how the estrangement between the families came about. And why, after all these years, does his mother suddenly invite them over for Christmas? Of course, the answers are gradually revealed during the course of the book.
Before the festivities can begin, Mrs. Nelson falls ill, seemingly from a spoiled mince pie. Then, in the middle of the night, her dead body is found in the middle of a nearby road, Mistletoe Lane. At first, everyone thinks she died of her illness, and the police suspect Louisa, the maid who was dismissed, of poisoning her. When they come to Louisa’s last known address, though, she is nowhere to be found and no one has heard of her. Obviously, she is not who she says she is, but what secret is she hiding? Soon Stella realizes, before the police do, that Mrs. Nelson was not poisoned, but hit by an automobile, leading her to believe the maid had nothing to do with her death. What was the housekeeper doing out of the house in the middle of the night, especially when she was ill?
The plot becomes even more complicated when the cook, Mrs. Cole, disappears on Christmas Day, forcing the family to hire a substitute to make Christmas dinner. Stella, of course, is afraid the cook might be dead, too. Then, on Boxing Day, Stella is determined to ride in the annual Point-to-Point pony race, even though no woman has done so before. Just before the race, one of the riders, Captain Stancliffe, is about to tell Stella something when he gets interrupted and then, during the race, he gets crushed by his pony and dies. His death is thought to be an accident at first, but Stella notices the similarity to Mrs. Nelson’s death (an apparent accident, just after he was about to tell her something), and she realizes someone must have drugged the pony and caused the accident. Captain Stancliffe was well-liked by the community, so who would want him dead? And what does his death have to do with Mrs. Nelson’s?
Many twists and plot complications occur before Stella discovers the killer. These involve family secrets, an orphanage, a young widow with two small children, and mysterious love notes written to Stella that are not from Lyndy, and which is he furious about (but not with her, because he knows she would never be unfaithful). At first you wonder how it all ties together, but you can be assured that it does. I admit that I never guessed who the killer was. It came as a total surprise to me, even though, now that I think about it, I should have thought of this person sooner.
Stella is an extremely appealing heroine. She is kind and compassionate, and has a strong love of animals, especially horses. She uses her money not just on repairs to Morrington Hall, but also on a project dear to her heart: a farm for old and injured horses, where they can rest and recuperate. Her mother-in-law doesn’t approve, but Lyndy, who also loves horses, supports her. He is a very loving husband, without being overprotective of Stella, and we can see the couple’s affection for each other, without any explicit sex scenes. Stella also has modern ideas, which, of course, her mother-in-law disapproves of, and is an excellent driver. In fact, she first arrived at Morrington Hall driving her father’s Daimler.
The supporting characters are excellently drawn as well, especially Stella’s haughty mother-in-law, Lady Atherly. Relations between the two women improve somewhat during the novel, but Lady Atherly still wonders when Stella will produce an heir, even though the couple have only been married for a few months. I also enjoyed the visiting family, the Kentfields: Sir Edwin, who flirts with Stella, the overbearing Isabella, who makes Lady Atherly look like a saint and who is always comparing Stella unfavorably to her daughters, and young Freddy, who is too much in love with Lyndy’s sister to notice anything else.
I highly recommend this book, and I think you can read it without having read any of the others. There are references to previous cases, but with just enough detail to intrigue you and make you want to read the other books, without spoiling the plots of any of them. Stella and Lyndy are so likeable, you will want to visit them again and again. I think fans of Tasha Alexander and Dianne Freeman will enjoy this book, and I also thought of Downton Abbey, even though this series is set a decade or two earlier. I look forward to more adventures for Stella and Lyndy. — Vicki Kondelik