Death on a Summer’s Day

Lord Edgington Investigates #3

by Benedict Brown

A majestic road trip across England, filled with stunning landscapes, incredible sights and the odd dead body along the way.

Lord Edgington and his grandson (along with a surprising number of servants) are going on a summer holiday. Setting off in their convoy of luxury cars, there are wonders to behold and mysteries to uncover. But when they arrive at the Lake District for a reunion with old friends, a tragedy from decades earlier hangs over the dilapidated Chandos Grove estate. After a member of the party is murdered, it will take the legendary investigator’s every last wit to catch the killer and solve a mystery that has haunted him for fifty years.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Historical, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Historical Mystery

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 30, 2021

About the author

Writing has always been my passion. It was my favourite hour a week at primary school, and I started on my first, truly abysmal book as a teenager. So it wasn’t a difficult decision to study literature at university which led to an MA in Creative Writing. I spent a long time writing kids’ books, including funny fairy tales, dystopic adventures and serious issue-based YA, before switching to murder mysteries last year.

I grew up in a crime fiction family and spent a long time dreaming up the idea for my detective Izzy Palmer’s debut novel. A Corpse Called Bob is my first full-length book for adults in what is already becoming a long series.

I’m a Welsh-Irish-Englishman originally from South London but now living with my French/Spanish wife and slightly muddled daughter in Burgos, a beautiful city in the north of Spain. I write overlooking the Castilian countryside, trying not to be distracted by the vultures and red kites that fly past my window each day.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this one as much as the prior books in the series. It did have at the center a "cold case" feature from when the grandfather was a young man.

[Chautona Havig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh... Christopher comes into his own in this one. No, he's not suddenly a brilliant detective, but he's getting a bit of self-confidence rather than just personal irritation as well as had a "heroic" moment amongst his usual bumbles as well.

I also love that Lord Edgington was kind of a jerk in this one--even when he wasn't, he was. And it fits. It shows personality and that the feeling of his being "over-the-top" brilliant is often there to serve a purpose rather than just because he's an overpowered superhero. So to speak.

I called one of the murders and got the one in the past wrong. For what it's worth, I'm THRILLED that I got that one wrong, too. This one also had one of the most beautiful paragraphs about authors and England and ooooh... it was wonderful. It's worth a read just for that.

[John Presler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord Edgington and his grandson, Christopher, are heading to Northern England to meet with some old friends. It has been many years since they were all together, but not everybody is happy about the reunion. The reunion is being held at Chandos Grove, the estate of Robert Atwell, better know to the group as Bobbie. The estate is pretty run-down and has been neglected for a long time.

Bobbie has an adopted daughter, Ariadne, living with him and a maid, Mabel, who does not seem to do any work. On the first evening, an argument arose between Lord Edgington and the Duke of Chandos regarding an incident from over fifty years earlier - the death of Morwenna Fairbright. When the group gathers for morning breakfast, the Duke is nowhere to be found and Ariadne is concerned. She says that he usually eats in the garden, then goes to a special place where he works on the book he is writing. After Ariadne led some of the group to the Duke's writing hut, they found the Duke dead. He had been stabbed in the chest.

Who killed Bobbie? Why was he killed? Was Bobbie's death related to the earlier death? Can Lord Edgington and Christopher unravel the mystery?

Benedict Brown has another fabulous story with wonderful characters and realistic situations. The story not only has humor throughout, but also has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged clear to the end.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1925. Lord Edgington returns to Chandos Grove to finally solve a 57 year old murder, accompanied by his grandson Christopher. But they are faced by another murder.
An entertaining and well-written historical mystery with its likeable main characters. Another good addition to this enjoyable series

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death on a Summer’s Day brings us sound police work and a coming-of-age novel at the same time, with bits of humor thrown in – what’s not to like? Benedict Brown’s latest Lord Edgington and his grandson Chris’ 1920s murder mystery find them traveling the byways of England on a quest to right a wrong – as milord sees it – from long ago.

A plethora of suspects in this one, and our author has them gathered in the same place as a past crime. But was it a crime? Lord Edgington certainly thinks so – and thinks the murdered man from the present hid his involvement. He’s out to prove it, while busy bringing the modern-day culprit to account. With help from our Chris, of course. Who’s finding out that girls aren’t icky. Our young man Christopher Prentiss is definitely growing up, and it’s a delight to see and follow along.

[Anja Peerdeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another magnificent murder investigation by Lord Edgington and his grandson Christopher.
This time they are trying to connect and solve a murder in the past and a murder in the present, both in the same location.
While reading this novel I was entertained, impressed, and completely puzzled, all at the same time.
Most wonderful !

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun series, despite the sometimes pompous Lord Edgington. He has what is turning into a great relationship with his grandson, Christopher. I like that he tends to rescue Christopher from his family, who (if I remember correctly from the first book) don't seem to have much regard for him.

This book takes the two on a summer road trip, visiting some of Lord E's old friends. When a body is found during one of their stops, of course they begin an investigation. There are only a handful of suspects, although the motives for some of them are better than for others. There were a lot of twists and turns, along with the revelation of several significant secrets along the way. I hadn't worked out a solution to the crime, but I wasn't completely surprised by the killer's identity or by the motive.

The next book from this series is in my audio library, and since it's set around Christmas, I might try to listen to it late this year.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is set in Suffolk so it is good to see the various names of places I know.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a Fun (yet Mysterious!) Romp thru 1920’s England

This is a lovely tour of ‘the British Isles’ by the two main characters of this series, “The Most Honourable Marquess of Edgington , Lord of Cranley Hall” (aka, ‘Edgington’, our main character!) and his 16-year-old grandson, “Christopher Aloysius Prentiss” (the ‘voice/author’ of the series).
Before I go further, Mr Brown has created a series, but they don’t necessarily need to be read in strict order. There are no ‘spoilers’ and I believe Readers can pick up any and have a great read.
Now, as my family tend to remind me, I’m horrible at keeping secrets, so let me simply encourage you to pick up one of the Lord Edgington books and maybe fix a snack or drink to munch on. Enjoy!

[Nancy Haddock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Addictive!

I'm loving this series and going through the books fast. Too fast? Maybe but Chrissy and Lord Edgington are just too engaging. Meeting the old friends was interesting as was the setting, and the plot unfolded at a steady pace. I need to look into the other series by this author, but I'll snag the 4th book in this series first!

[Ka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I kept on with this series even though the first two books didn't particularly engage me, since I felt this one was better! 3.5 stars, I guess. I did like this one much better. I think because Christopher is less whiny and useless. He is quicker on the uptake and has more confidence in this book. He's also more competent, in both the investigation and life in general -- he learns new skills successfully (fishing, skipping stones) after initially failing, and he rescues his grandfather near the end, which was actually a very fun scene to imagine (strangely). I think we're finally seeing him grow up a bit.

It's not that I disliked him in the other books, but I also wasn't very interested in his point of view, and that's rough when we're talking about a first-person narrator. When someone is telling a story, I want their perspective to be interesting; previously, he just felt very bland as a person. He's not good at physical activities, he's not good at any academic subject, he doesn't have any useful talents, skills, or areas of knowledge... His only unique trait in the previous books is being mildly interested in birds, and he isn't even good at that. I am not saying there's anything wrong with people who aren't particularly good at anything, but to me, such people are not engaging to read about.

In this book, since Lord Edgington is behaving oddly around his old friends, Christopher actually has to do a lot of thinking for himself. He also manages to feel heartbroken for a few days because the maid he had a crush on gets married, but he then rebounds immediately to another (more appropriately aged) girl. This little side plot was cute and added a bit of fun to the story.

Overall, I was kinda thinking if this book didn't draw me in more than the previous two, that I might put this series on a back burner for a while since I have a lot of other books to get through; however, since I found this one more engaging, and am finally warming up to the characters, I'm ready to take on book 4! I do hope our favorite red-haired bad boy Marmalade returns; he's still one of the more entertaining characters who's appeared thus far in the series.

[Shan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entertaining mystery. This one starts with a road trip to an old friends get-together at a country house. Fifty-seven years ago, Chrissy's grandfather, Lord Edgington, was part of a group of friends until one of them, a girl nicknamed Star, died in a fire. Edgington was convinced another of the friends - Bobby, whose country house it is - was responsible; Bobby was never prosecuted and the injustice was what led Edgington to go into the police and become a famous detective. There's another murder at the get-together, so Chrissy and his grandfather have to solve the mystery that might or might not be linked to the older death.

It's the atmosphere and the setting that make me happiest with these Lord Edgington books. The audio book narrator is terrific with the voices, and there are lots of details about food and cars and traveling with a slew of servants that bring the period to life. Bobby is an odd character who seemingly lives on sardines and is at constant war with his cats as a result. In this book, Edgington's behavior is also odd - it's partly an act, but not entirely, and I was reminded that until a couple of months earlier the old man was holed up in solitude for ten years after his wife died. Chrissy is growing up and noticing girls, which adds a good helping of humor and a tiny bit of romance to the story. There's also a subplot involving bringing women into Parliament that was interesting.

This is the first book in the series where I paid close enough attention to be able to comment on the mystery itself. It holds up; I didn't figure it out (I almost never do) but it made sense. Usually with audiobooks I miss a lot, but with this one I did all the rewinding to catch up on everything I missed by getting distracted or falling asleep.

The author's afterword gives some insight into the real places that inspired the book's settings, and a bit more context for the historical events.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The investigators in this cozy series are definitely a "Holmes and Watson" type. Lord Edgington is a retired Police Inspector and, while not as cerebral as Holmes, still has a tendency to keep things from his grandson and sidekick Christopher -- the 'Watson' character who narrates.

Christopher sees himself as not too bright, but very self aware, not at all interested in exercise of any sort -- he'd be happier just sitting and reading than camping under the stars. But his grandfather seems to have confidence in him and has taken him completely under his investigative wing. And it does seem there's more to Christopher than he reveals of himself.

In this book, the pair -- along with a handful of servants -- embark on a road tour of England (remember it's 1925 or so) with the final destination being the estate of Edgington's old friend the Duke of Chandros. It quickly becomes obvious that events of some 57 years earlier are critical to the direction each of their lives took, as well as those of other old friends who join them at the estate.

Of course, there's a murder, and it quickly becomes clear that the solution to the current one is very closely related to the death in the past. As usual, don't take anything at face value, witnesses often lie, and even investigators are not always honest with the object of their questions. It was quite a satisfactory conclusion, and I look forward to the next in the series.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly this one wasn't as good as the first two in the series. The author, in his note, says that he wanted to explore Lord Edgington's background but a reunion with childhood friends that he hasn't seen in 57 years wasn't the way to do it. Christopher and his grandfather are spending their summer break traveling around England's Lake District, visiting Lord Edgington's old friends. They include a duke, a lady, a professor and a politician. They gather at the duke's estate where a tragedy broke the group up over 50 years ago and led to Lord Edgington joining the police. Their friend was killed in a fire on the duke's property and Lord Edgington was in love with her and has always blamed the duke for her death. Now, the duke wants to publish his memoir to clear his name. The death effected the others as well. The duke and the politician were engaged but that broke up after the death with the woman marrying a PM instead. When the duke turns up dead everyone wonders if it is connected to the death a half century ago. Yes, it turns out that it was, because the politician's son knew that rehashing the scandal would ruin his mother's political chances and so he had to stop it from being published. And the politician was also responsible for the girl's death 50 years ago because she was jealous that her fiancé was flirting with her. The next one is set at Christmas so I think I'll give the series a break for a little while.

[Carôle Ceres · Rating 5 out of 5]

A SOBERING WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE

I think that a few reviewers have said that this is the typical Lord Edgerton and Christopher tale, but I really can’t agree on that.

It’s not a lighthearted, jolly story. The only truly humorous scene in it was their day at Great Yarmouth (sidebar: Great Yarmouth has a literary reputation of being hilarious for me - See Notes From A Small Island, Bill Bryson. Hilarious)!

Other than that, it’s a sober walk down memory lane for his lordship and it’s a horrible trip back. Christopher is getting a little bit more assertive (in his own timid way) and his narrative is as we expect.

I did enjoy this story, it’s another aspect of Lord E that we haven’t seen before, which serves to give us some background to his childhood and adolescence. It is obvious that there will be further adventures which will further enlighten his young adulthood and career. I look forward to those.

Engrossing and the author’s notes at the end are very interesting and informative. I listened to the audiobook version of this title, superbly read by George Blagden.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher and his grandfather are heading to the south of England for a visit to the seashore. They are taking a larger than usual number of servants with them. Included in the group? Alice, Christopher's great crush. Also included? Her new husband.
On the way down, they meet with one of Grandfather's old friends, a professor. The professor mentions an invitation that Grandfather has sent to their childhood group. The six friends used to gather during the summer at Chandross Groves. Each had a nickname: Grandfather (Reprobus, an early christian known for his size and strength); the professor (Sampson); Elody (Lala - for melody); Philomena (Mimi); and Morwena Fairbright (Star). During one of the summers, Star died. Grandfather cites this as the reason he became a policeman.
It is this old mystery that Grandfather would like Christopher to help solve. And it's nice because we do get to see Christopher start to grow as a detective in this story.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm pretty much invested in this series now. I love the idea of Lord Edgington training his grandson to follow in his footsteps. Right now in the series, young Christopher doesn't appear to be too bright, but hopefully as the series progresses he will start to truly develop his detective brain. This time around it's a road trip for the pair, with a few of the household staff tagging along for this summer holiday. They set off in their convoy of cars, seeking wonders to behold and mysteries to uncover. When the jaunty party arrive at the Lake District for a reunion with old friends of Lord Edgington, a tragic death from decades earlier hangs over the dilapidated Chandos Grove estate. When Bobby, Duke of Chandos, their host, is murdered, it will take the legendary investigator's every last wit to catch the killer and solve a mystery that has haunted him for fifty years. This one is full of twisting plots and quirky characters, which makes for a most interesting read.

[Julie Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher and his Grandfather, Lord Edgington, head to the country to meet Grandfather's old friends. What Christopher doesn't realize is how much these old friends don't actually get along. In fact, one of them is a murderer!

Lord Edgington is there to confront his childhood friends and finally find the truth of what happened many years ago to one of them. With both an old and new murder to solve Christopher is worried about his Grandfather as his mind seems to be slipping and he doesn't think his Grandfather is capable of pulling off an unbiased investigation. As always Christopher stumbles and bumbles around as he tries to help Lord Edgington figure out who the culprit is.

Laced with humor and insight into human character Death on a Summer's Day was not only entertaining, but also managed to keep me guessing the culprit to the very end. I enjoyed this installment a lot and look forward to the next one in the series.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has quickly become one of my new favorite series. I find the books funny and charming. I love following the adventures of Chris and his eccentric grandfather. Chris's observations make me laugh.

Chris and his grandfather are on a rip-roaring road trip. They are returning to the scene of a tragic death in his Grandfather's past. His Grandfather's old friends are gathering and they haven't seen each other for decades. There is still a lot of anger and blame over what happened. When a new murder it occurs, Chris and Lord Edgington have to figure out how it all relates to the past.

Chris was funny in this one, chasing people all over the estate trying to track down clues. I also love a good whodunnit set on an estate. It's always fun.

This series was recently on sale on Audible and I bought all of them. I'm already looking forward to relistening!

[Glenn Younger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love, lies, and a little lunacy.

Murder in his retirement follows Lord Edginton as he heads north to visit old friends from University with Chrissy, is grandson and sleuth-in-training sidekick. There, old animosities surface from an old unsolved murder. New hysterics arise when one of the friends is murdered. And since everyone knows Lord E like the back of their hand—or so they think—he has to pull out a whole new set of sleuthing tricks to get to the bottom of things.

Meanwhile, sixteen year old Chrissy spends his time chasing after his grandfather’s enigmatic clues while also discovering the confusing world of ‘women’. Along with a colorful cast of characters and a handy character list at the end of the book, this is a fun whodunit read of 1925.

[Erik Tolvstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entertaining story in the series. The mystery starts with a strange gathering of way-back-when friends and launches into a cold case investigation, but that goes quickly off the rails with a new murder.

The whodunnit part of the story is well done, with a couple of fair-play clues early on, and red herrings galore and a satisfying and plausible solution. It gets a bit melodramatic at points, but in the best "Poirot" ways. For me, some of the best parts of the story is the interplay between Lord Edgington and his soon to be seventeen year old grandson, Christopher. The two frequently challenge each others thought processes throughout, and our author has done a bang up job of showing Christopher's growing maturity of both intellect and emotion.

[Cattie Whaley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling adventure!

Book 3 of Lord Edgington Investigates did not disappoint! In this book, Lord Edgington and Christopher (and a host of other staff!) take off on a cross country adventure to meet up with friends from the past. Christopher learns more about his grandfather's youth and meets his oldest friends. But when murder strikes, it's up to Lord Edgington and Christopher to figure out which is the likely culprit. Great characters in this edition (in addition to the already amazing "normal" characters! I love the time period and the scenery descriptions. Benedict Brown has done his research! Can't wait for the next book! Highly recommend!

[J. Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one as much as the one I read previously, mostly because I love the relationship between Christopher and his eccentric grandfather. Brown can easily channel the mind of this smart but naïve and unjaded teenager. He's sweet, agreeable, likeable. In this story, he is thrust into an uneasy reunion of his grandfather's old "friends". Lots of history and secrets that he isn't privy to which puts him in an uncomfortable situation, particularly as his grandfather is biased by personal involvements. I doubt this story could be set in modern times; it works with a kind of Jeeves and Wooster atmosphere of privilege. Fun reading. I like Chrissy a lot.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Little Drawn Out

But I still enjoyed the book. The story was interesting going back in time like it did. But I wish we could have had a few scenes of them as young people. As it is, we are just taking Lord Edgington's word for everything. If we were given the info earlier, then the ending would not have needed to be drawn out. The reader would have been able to see where the Lord was going with each character.
But I still liked the book and look forward to the next one in the series.

[Dona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read the first three books in the series: Murder at the Spring Ball, A Body at a Boarding School, Death on a Summer's Day, and a short titled Death in High Places.

Each of the books are very well written, the story lines are interesting, the characters are engaging and the locations are decidedly English. I'm looking forward to reading the next three books, Mystery of The Mistletoe Hall, The Tangled Treasure Trail, The Curious Case of the Templeton Swifts.

Also, if listening to the audio recoding as I did on Audible, the narrator is quite good and adds to the ambiance of the story.

[Cora Mabry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars ✨

This was enjoyable but not as good as the previous installments in the series. Overall, I found the plot pretty convoluted and hard to follow (which was odd since there was such a small pool of suspects, but the murder from 57 years ago really threw me off). I also didn't love the (very minor) instances of language, and all the mentions of illegitimate children with no parental figures.

As always, the audiobook narration was fantastic, and Chrissy is so funny! His relationship with Ariadne was adorable!

[Maryann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Falls in Love

Lord Edgington has decided to tackle the case he failed to solve, the murder of his teenage crush, which leads to a lot of elaborate, ridiculous maneuvers to bring the suspects together and, of course, leads to another murder (not a spoiler; it happens early) None of the suspects act like rational people; most of the clues are silly and the ending is just dim. However, Christopher runs all over, actually gets to eat food he enjoys, and falls in love. This book is completely inane; absolute escapism which is what I wanted to read.

[Kim Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite book in the series so far! The characters are superbly drawn, and the plot keeps you guessing until the end in the very best of ways. The writing is rich, with well-placed humour and description that never distracts from moving the story forwards. I’d highly recommend this book – and the earlier ones in the series – and I’m already excited to see what adventures Lord Edgington and his grandson Christopher get up to next (and what culinary delights are on cook’s new menu!).

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lord Edgerton drags his grandson Christopher on a tour of Britain, landing up in the Lake District to reinvestigate a murder that happened in Lord Edgertons formative years. Shortly after their arrival another corpse is discovered, and Christopher and Lord Edgerton have to delve into the past to uncover the murderer on the present.
Not quite as good as the first two, but still a really cracking read!

[Di Worley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Road trip ending in murder........of course

Chrissy's grandfather packs up to do a road trip, including several essential members of the household and of course his Grandson. A trip down memory lane and a meeting of Lord Edgington's childhood summer holiday friends to try and lay to rest a mystery that occurred one summer, long ago. I love this series. It has humour abounded, as well as thumping good mysteries to solve. Thoroughly recommended.