Murder at Morrington Hall

Murder at Morrington Hall is the first book in a new historical cozy series by Clara McKenna. Released 28th May 2019 by Kensington, it's 304 pages and available in hardback, ebook, and audio formats.  Set in Edwardian England, lead character Stella is one of the 'Million Dollar princesses' who married into the English aristocracy in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.

The book is firmly in the cozy historical murder mystery genre with a romance subplot. As such, the murder is bloodless and the language is clean. There is no graphic violence and no sexual content. The only cursing is an occasional 'bloody' or 'damn'; nothing to make Aunt Sylvia blush.

As far as I've been able to tell, this is the author's debut novel and as such, it's surprisingly good. She's a gifted storyteller with a sure feel for characterization and descriptive narrative. There is some unpolished dialogue, but nothing egregious. I wasn't yanked out of my suspension of disbelief. Some of the characters are a bit two dimensional (her father's a brute and mostly serves as narrative tension). The budding romance and cooperation between Stella and Lyndy starts off at a weird pace but by the middle third of the book, they've sort of found a common footing.  There are a number of anachronistic turns of phrase, but all in all, the author has done her background research and the book moves along to a satisfying, if slightly telegraphed, denouement.

I would recommend the book for fans of cozy mysteries looking for a historical series (Downton Abbey meets Daisy Dalrymple). I'll definitely give the next entries in the series a look.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.