Book 8 of the Countess of Harleigh Mystery series, A Daughter’s Guide to Mothers and Murder, continues with Frances and George in Paris during the Paris Olympics and the Paris World’s Fair. An acquaintance, Alicia Stoke-Whitney, asks Frances to investigate Alicia’s daughter’s current love interest, Carlson Deaver. He’s a wealthy American whose wife was murdered less than a year earlier. Frances and George are working together with Daniel Cadieux, Inspector for the Sûreté, on a startling new lead on the case. Frances manages to co-opt her mother into helping with the detective work. The lead suspect is the divine actress Sarah Bernhardt, but she has received an earring she recognizes as belonging to Deaver’s wife along with a threatening note. She’s not entirely eliminated, but there are scads of other suspects.
Author Freeman has reached a new peak in handling multiple suspects and theories, leading to delightfully unexpected twists and turns. I also enjoy that Frances is liberated woman who becomes more liberated with time. Here she learns to drive and to play golf.
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A Daughter’s Guide to Mothers and Murder (Kensington, June 24, 2025) is available through:
Your local independent book seller | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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You can read my reviews of other Dianne Freeman novels here:
#2 A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder
#5 A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder
#6 A Newlywed’s Guide to Fortune and Murder
#7 An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder
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