''Just the thing to chase the blues away'' - M. C. Beaton
----------
When Eric Pugsley, who runs the unsightly scrapyard on the Honeychurch Hall estate, brings home his Turkish fiancée, everyone is delighted - even if the marriage does seem to include her outrageously feisty mother.
A Safari Supper at the Hall is held in their honour, but trouble begins when, somewhere between the first course and dessert, one of the villagers goes missing and is later found drowned in the estate''s ornamental lake.
Rumours of foul play abound, given that competition is fierce to clinch a trophy at the upcoming Flower and Produce Festival, where sabotage had already come into play when someone released a herd of goats into the village allotments and one of the planned entries was eaten.
But things take an even more sinister turn when Eric asks our heroine, Kat Stanford, to value the bride-to-be''s 19th century Etruscan engagement ring, only to be told that historically it was used to carry poison - hardly an appropriate choice for love, but Eric is adamant it''s what his fiancée wants.
And then a second body is found... unearthing a hotbed of sabotage, blackmail, and old grudges.
----------
Praise for Hannah Dennison:
''The perfect classic English village mystery but with the addition of charm, wit and a thoroughly modern touch'' - Rhys Bowen
''Downton Abbey was yesterday. Murder at Honeychurch Hall lifts the lid on today''s grand country estate in all its tarnished, scheming, inbred, deranged glory'' - Catriona McPherson
''Sparkles like a glass of Devon cider on a summer afternoon'' - Elizabeth Duncan
