Barnaby smiled. “Excellent.” To Stokes, he said, “Julian was the lad who brought us the information on Sir Ulysses Moubray in the Thomas Cardwell case.”
Stokes’s expression cleared. “The very prompt alibi that helped us get along rather faster.” He looked at Curtis. “You’re right. He’s a promising lad for your business.”
“So I think.” To Penelope, Curtis added, “Julian’s a good lad in other ways, too. Devoted to his widowed mother, it seems, so there’s a solid family foundation there, which I always find bodes well.”
Penelope nodded. “I quite agree.” She glanced at her sons, still busy with engineering works, then smiled a touch impishly at Curtis. “But, Curtis, where’s your hat? I almost didn’t recognize you without it.”
Barnaby and Stokes chuckled. Curtis invariably wore a low-crowned hat, a particular style that had become something of a personal hallmark.
Curtis mock-glowered and growled, “Aye, I feel half dressed without it, and my head is cold in this sea breeze, but that damned butler insisted on taking it. All I can say is he better give it back!”
Penelope, Barnaby, and Stokes laughed, then Thomas and Montague, having noticed Curtis, came up to shake his hand, and the conversation spread to wider fields as the ladies came to join them, and the children cavorted and played knights and castles at the other end of the balcony.
Surveying the scene, Penelope leaned against Barnaby.
When he glanced down at her and arched an inquiring brow, she smiled and murmured, “Friends, family, a wonderful wedding. This is the life. May it never end.”
“Amen,” he whispered.
The smile they shared was private and full of mutual satisfaction, then they turned back to the discussion and this group who were now such a large part of their lives.
Dear Reader,
The Honorable Richard Percival first appeared in one of the early volumes inThe Casebook of Barnaby Adairseries, Loving Rose: The Redemption of Malcolm Sinclair,and was always destined to have his day in the sun, romance-wise. Given Richard’s degree of involvement in that long ago case and his consequent connection with Barnaby, Penelope, and Stokes, then it was always likely that Richard’s wider life would, once again, cross the investigators’ paths.
And where more likely than at a summer house party for Richard, the erstwhile rakehell, to stumble upon the fated love of his life, along with a dead body, a situation that immediately triggers Richard’s protective instincts? And naturally, those instincts would prompt him to send for Barnaby, Penelope, and Stokes with all speed. I hope you’ve enjoyed returning to one of the classic venues of ton life in this latest installment in the continuing adventures of Barnaby, Penelope, Stokes, and friends. If you feel inclined to leave a review here, I would greatly appreciate it.
As for what’s coming next, inWho Killed the Earl of Moran?(March 19, 2026), we return to Mayfair, to the heart of the London social scene, with our investigators called in by Curtis, of the Curtis Inquiry Agency, to help solve the case of a powerful man disliked by many found murdered in his study.
Information about earlier volumes in THE CASEBOOK OF BARNABY ADAIR series—Where the Heart Leads,The Peculiar Case of Lord Finsbury’s Diamonds,The Masterful Mr.Montague,The Curious Case of Lady Latimer’s Shoes, Loving Rose: The Redemption of Malcolm Sinclair,The Confounding Case of the Carisbrook Emeralds, and The Murder at Mandeville HallandThe Meriwell Legacy,Dead Beside the Thames and Marriage and Murder — can be found following. Scroll on.
Barnaby, Penelope, Stokes, Griselda, and their friends and supporters continue to tackle the solving of crimes with undimmed enthusiasm. I hope they and their adventures solving mysteries and exposing villains will continue to entertain you in the future just as much as they do me.
Enjoy!
Stephanie.
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COMING NEXT:
WHO KILLED THE EARL OF MORAN?
The Casebook of Barnaby Adair #13
To be released in March, 2026.
Mrs. Mary Alder, in discharging her last duty to her mistress, the Dowager Countess of Moran, goes to deliver a list of the ageing countess’s engagements for the following day to her son, the earl, in his study, only to discover that the earl has been bludgeoned to death. When Mary is accused of the crime, her son, Julian, rushes to his employer, Curtis, of the Curtis Inquiry Agency, for help, and Curtis promptly enlists the aid of Barnaby and Penelope Adair and Scotland Yard’s Inspector Stokes. Not that the trio needed much summoning as they’ve already been instructed by the Police Commissioner to solve the case with all speed. With the victim being a powerful nobleman and a major political player, from the first, the pressure is on to find who had dared kill the earl. While the investigators quickly rule out Mrs. Alder as a suspect, they soon discover that the other major suspects—the rest of the earl’s family—were all in the Moran House drawing room at the time of the murder, under each other’s eyes. And while it quickly becomes clear that quite a few people wished the earl dead, which one actually did the deed remains a tantalizing mystery.
