Murder in a Cornish Alehouse: A Mistress Jaffrey Mystery

Set in 1584, Emerson’s swashbuckling third Mistress Jaffrey mystery (after 2015’s Murder in the Merchant’s Hall) takes Rosamond Jaffrey, a gentlewoman who has worked as an intelligence gatherer, from London to Cornwall, where her stepfather, Sir Walter Pendennis, has suddenly died. Rosamond makes the trip reluctantly, since she’s estranged from her greedy, grasping mother, Eleanor, who disapproves of Rosamond’s devoted husband, Rob. Soon after she and Rob arrive at her mother’s house, Eleanor informs Rosamond that Sir Walter was murdered. Evidently, something he discovered in his work as an espionage agent led to his death. The astute and fearless Rosamond, who’s a dab hand with knives, investigates. The action shifts to Ireland, where she’s kidnapped and has her honor threatened. At the climax on the high seas, she must deal with a literal boatload of spies and counterspies. Those interested in the fashion and cultural history of the period, not to mention Cornish dialect, will find a lot to like. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Apr.)