by Cynthia Chow

Details at the end of this post on how to win an ebook copy of Empty Nest, and a link to purchase it.

It may only be October, but as the manager of Smeaton-under-Lyme’s Tourist Information Center, Julia Lanchester already has her hands full planning the English village’s Christmas Market, Cider Day, and Boxing Day Bird Count. A toxic mold situation in her cottage has forced her to move temporarily into Lord Fotheringill’s estate home, a situation compounded not only by his crush on her but by the unexpected arrival of Linus Fotheringill’s son, Cecil.

Although it has been over two years since the their last visited the estate, Cecil now seems very intent on questioning Julia’s every decision. Considering that the newly hired estate agent is also evaluating the effectiveness of Julia’s performance, it’s not surprising that she is losing her renowned appetite and confidence in her decisions.

The daughter of a famous—and dashing—ornithologist with his own BBC television program, Julia normally finds solace wandering in the nearby woods and paths. The deliberate poisoning of sparrow hawks ends that, as does the sudden death of Cecil’s friend in Lord Fotheringill’s Hoggin Hall. With Julia’s boyfriend Michael Sedgwick off spending the past month as her father’s assistant, there is no one to rein in her uncontrollable urge to fix things, protect the Hall, and help the police constables who may be led off into the obvious (but wrong) direction.

This is a truly delightful and very enjoyable mystery highlighted by its likable heroine. Julia’s enthusiasm for her job stems from her affection for the village, but that doesn’t mean that she lacks an acerbic sense of humor that has her wanting to cosh the more pretentious characters on the head. Julia’s past divorce and one unfortunate brief mistake has her sabotaging her new relationship with Michael, but she may be saved by the council of her level-headed friends. The association between Julia and Linus Fotheringill is an even more intriguing one, and it will be even more interesting to see how Julia and Michael’s affair plays out against it. Readers who love English village mysteries and their unique cast of characters will thoroughly appreciate this extremely fun and original mystery series.

To enter to win an ebook copy of Empty Nest, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “nest,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen January 2, 2016. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

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Cynthia Chow is the branch manager of Kaneohe Public Library on the island of Oahu. She balances a librarian lifestyle of cardigans and hair buns with a passion for motorcycle riding and regrettable tattoos (sorry, Mom).