E.A. Allen
The Dandridge Charter: An Edwardian Christmas Mystery
language
( Nov. 29, 2014)
It is 1908. Gerard de Montclaire and his associate, Sir Francis FitzMaurice, are summoned to a house on Windermere, in the English Lake District, and there to pass the Christmas Season with the family Darnell. But the reason for the invitation has little to do with celebration. The family's lands are threatened in a lawsuit, and unless their ancient Charter is found, they will be ruined. There is little beside ancient hearsay to guide Montclaire’s step and there is murder in the offing, because someone is willing to kill to prevent his success. History and the power of imagination are once more Montclaire's handiest tools, as he fathoms the meaning of a harpsichord that plays in the night, an ancient Christmas carol in a strange dialect, and the troubled religious history of a family whose future hangs desperately on finding The Dandridge Charter.