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Murder at Tregowyn Manor
Winter of 1935 finds Oxford archaeologist, Sonny Nichols, under arrest for the theft of a priceless Roman relic from a dig in Cornwall. Catherine Tregowyn and her sleuthing partners Harry and Dot go to his aid. Almost immediately an anonymous telegram threatens Catherine’s life. Dot’s cousin has involved himself in something deadly. Undeterred, they motor down to the dig in Cornwall which is on Catherine’s estranged father’s estate. Shortly after their arrival, someone viciously attacks Catherine, nearly killing her. The next morning, one of the archaeologists is missing, and more artifacts have been stolen. The attacker is clearly desperate. Is this only simple greed or are there other factors at work here? When murder intervenes, Catherine, Harry, and Dot must dig deeper. Is the murderer the charismatic student who has forsaken his aristocratic birthright? Or the misanthropic and penniless professor who seeks to advance his career? Could it be the charming and glib young Irish peer who loves Greek dancing or the ruthless student who needs to reverse his family’s fortunes? When the truth finally comes out it is on a scale none of them could possibly have imagined. . . G.G. Vandagriff has written yet another Golden Age English mystery filled with familiar faces from her prior books and an entire collection of new Oxonians who are less . . . and more than they seem at first glance.
Reviews
Vandagriff’s entertaining third whodunit featuring Catherine Tregowyn (after Murder in the Jazz Band) centers on the theft of a valuable artifact. In 1935, Sonny Nichols, an Oxford University undergrad, joins an archaeological team excavating Anglo-Saxon artifacts in Cornwall, coincidentally on land belonging to the Tregowyn family. The group finds a valuable carved Roman brick, which is later stored in a locked basement vault in Balliol College under Sonny’s care. Despite those precautions, the brick disappears, and Sonny is the prime suspect. Catherine, a gifted amateur sleuth in her first year as a tutor at Oxford, agrees to assist in the investigation, and returns home to Cornwall, where the case takes a dark turn after a man goes missing and is presumed murdered. Vandagriff makes familiar tropes feel fresh, and in Catherine has created an appealing lead capable of sustaining a lengthy series. Fans of golden age mysteries will look forward to more. (Self-published)
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