I am thrilled today to be part of the publicity blog tour for Tessa Arlen’s new mystery novel: A Death by Any Other Name. I’ve read Ms. Arlen’s other cozies: Death Sits Down to Dinner and Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman, and loved them! They are a bit in the Downtown style of Edwardian England with the lady of the house solving mysteries with the help of her trusty housekeeper.

Here’s the overview for this story:

A Death by Any Other Name is a delightful Edwardian mystery set in the English countryside. Building on the success of her last two mysteries in the same series, Tessa Arlen returns us to the same universe full of secrets, intrigue, and, this time, roses.

The elegant Lady Montfort and her redoubtable housekeeper Mrs. Jackson’s services are called upon after a cook is framed and dismissed for poisoning a guest of the Hyde Rose Society. Promising to help her regain her job and her dignity, the pair trek out to the countryside to investigate a murder of concealed passions and secret desires. There, they are to discover a villain of audacious cunning among a group of mild-mannered, amateur rose-breeders. While they investigate, the rumor mill fills with talk about a conflict over in Prussia where someone quite important was shot. There is talk of war and they must race the clock to solve the mystery as the idyllic English summer days count down to the start of WWI.

Brimming with intrigue, Tessa Arlen’s latest does not disappoint.

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Tessa Arlen is a gifted writer, and the pages come alive with the sense of the period. Though this is the third in this series with Lady Monfort, this novel is absolutely a stand alone title as well. Ms. Arlen includes a cast of characters break down at the start of the book, and I found this handy as there were a lot of characters in this novel.

Well, paced and well,plotted, this was a fun read. Highly recommended to those who enjoy cozy mysteries and/or those who may just be missing their Downton fix!

Thank you for my review copy and for making me part of the tour!