This is the first Christmas after the Great War, and at Foxwood Hall Phoebe Renshaw and her family are celebrating the holiday and trying to forget the painful memories from the war. Unfortunately, the holiday gathering is shattered when the Marquis of Allerton disappears and then his finger is discovered in a gift for the lady’s maid, Eva Huntford.
The police are called in, but Phoebe believes the police have arrested the wrong man, so she decides to investigate and enlists help from Eva. They work together: Phoebe questioning family and Eva speaking with staff, but even with both of them working on the case it can be deadly to track a killer in Murder Most Malicious.
Set in 1918 this mystery is rich in historical detail and is the first in A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mystery Series by Alyssa Maxwell. She is also the author of the Gilded Newport Mystery Series.