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Manor House Mysteries #4
Dig Deep for Murder
At the height of World War II, Lady Elizabeth Hartleigh Compton decides to turn the lawn of Manor House into a victory garden for Sitting Marsh villagers, but when members of the community come together to prepare the garden, they stumble upon the body of one of Lady Elizabeth's tenants buried in a shallow grave. Original.
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
34 people are currently reading
235 people want to read
About the author
Kate Kingsbury
84 books568 followersKate Kingsbury grew up in London, England, and at a very early age began telling stories to her school friends during the London Blitz of WW II while huddling in bomb shelters. Kate moved to the U.S. in the early sixties, and had passed her 50th birthday when she published her first book. Writing as Doreen Roberts, (her real name at the time) she published 26 romance novels for Harlequin/Silhouette. In 1991 her first Pennyfoot Hotel book was published and since then Kate has written 35 mysteries, including the Manor House mysteries, the Bellehaven House mysteries(written as Rebecca Kent) and the Raven's Nest mysteries, (written as Allison Kingsley.) Her new series, The Merry Ghost Inn Mysteries debuted in January, 2017 with Dead and Breakfast, featuring a B & B on the Oregon coast. She has one son, Regan, and lives with her husband, Bill, in the beautiful state of Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 25, 2020
Dig Deep for Murder by Kate Kingsbury is book 4 of the Manor House mystery series set in the English countryside during WWII. Lady Elizabeth Hartleigh Compton is a widow, an orphan, Lady of the Manor...and nearly broke. She juggles bills, tries to keep the manor house from falling apart, lives frugally with 2 elderly servants: Violet, housekeeper and Martin, butler. Elizabeth can't afford a car, so she rides a motorcycle when she travels into the nearby village, Sitting Marsh.
Polly, a village girl, started work at the Manor as housemaid. Since her crush on Sam, an American airman, Polly has shirked her cleaning duties in favor of work in Elizabeth's office. To impress Sam, she claims to be Elizabeth's secretary. Polly lied about her age when she met Sam, certain he would not date her if he knew the truth. Recognizing that Polly shirks her cleaning duties, Elizabeth agrees to hire a housemaid from London - to Polly's great joy.
Besides housing American airmen in the east wing of the Manor House, Elizabeth designated part of her land to be a Victory Garden tended by villagers. When Polly's family take over an unused plot, they find a dead body. The man's face is battered, so he is identified by his clothing. Elizabeth goes to Sitting Marsh to break the news to his wife. She's surprised at the woman's lack of grief.
George and Sid are the village constables. They retired years ago, only grudgingly serve in the absence of all the village's young men. They protest when attending a crime scene interrupts a meal. They certainly don't care to investigate a missing renter for Elizabeth. She absolutely needs the rent, so she must do the sleuthing herself.
Elizabeth eventually links the widow's lack of grief, the dead body, and missing renter. She figures out what really happened, and chases down the killer - alone.
Polly, a village girl, started work at the Manor as housemaid. Since her crush on Sam, an American airman, Polly has shirked her cleaning duties in favor of work in Elizabeth's office. To impress Sam, she claims to be Elizabeth's secretary. Polly lied about her age when she met Sam, certain he would not date her if he knew the truth. Recognizing that Polly shirks her cleaning duties, Elizabeth agrees to hire a housemaid from London - to Polly's great joy.
Besides housing American airmen in the east wing of the Manor House, Elizabeth designated part of her land to be a Victory Garden tended by villagers. When Polly's family take over an unused plot, they find a dead body. The man's face is battered, so he is identified by his clothing. Elizabeth goes to Sitting Marsh to break the news to his wife. She's surprised at the woman's lack of grief.
George and Sid are the village constables. They retired years ago, only grudgingly serve in the absence of all the village's young men. They protest when attending a crime scene interrupts a meal. They certainly don't care to investigate a missing renter for Elizabeth. She absolutely needs the rent, so she must do the sleuthing herself.
Elizabeth eventually links the widow's lack of grief, the dead body, and missing renter. She figures out what really happened, and chases down the killer - alone.
July 15, 2024
I have to say this was my least favourite in the series so far even though there is a lot of action, a body turns up in the victory garden plots, Polly and Sam are involved in a serious accident after he learns Polly's true age and someone is stealing food. But there was much that frustrated me throughout this story. Elizabeth is pushy, aggressive and awful in this book demanding to know things she has no right to know and pushing in where she doesn't belong. I know the traditional cozy mystery has inept police and a heroine who sweeps in and saves everyone but she just comes across as arrogant, a know it all and I can do everything better than you. Her constant pining over the major is ridiculous especially as she constantly points out that he's married with children back home. Even if he reciprocates those feelings why would you want to get involved with a man who seems to have no issue with cheating on his spouse? If he cheats with you he'll probably cheat on you. She's also a woman in her 30's behaving like a love sick teenager not a divorced woman who had her heart and trust shattered by said husband. At least in the previous books Elizabeth had a reason to but in, she was asked by those close to the victims to do so. Here her only excuse was the body turned up in her garden plots. At least when Miss Marple does it she's a sweet endearing character and is subtle in her investigation, Elizabeth has all the subtlety of an army tank. Polly is equally annoying here, but she's a teenager and we all act stupid as teens. Most of us have moped around and swore we'd never love again after a breakup in our teen years especially if it was your first love. Violet and Martin are the same and the only decent part of this book. Four possibly new characters are also introduced Sadie Buttons a new maid who seems to be a more hardworking less clumsy Queenie of Royal Spyness fame and three evacuees who might be behind the thefts. Maybe they'll all feature in the rest of the series I guess I'll have to read on to find out, provided Elizabeth and her arrogance and childish fawning over a married man doesn't drive me away.
August 28, 2025
Lady Elizabeth Hartleigh is the Lady of the Manor house. In the quiet village of Sitting Marsh. To help with the war effort she has given part of the manor grounds to the villagers to use for Victory Gardens. When one of her older tenants passes she gives his plot to the family of Polly her secretary who helps her with the paperwork connected to the manor and tenants. But when a gruesome discovery is made Lady Elizabeth now must discover the identity of the victim and the culprit of the crime. Soon Lady Elizabeth finds out that the victim is Reggie Stewart a unpleasant man whose wife doesn't seem distressed at his passing. The mystery only deepens with the disappearance of another tenant and the strange sightings of ghosts at the Manor House . Did Betty Stewart decide to end the misery of her marriage or is there a darker force at work. And how far will the guilty party go to keep their crime a secret? Elizabeth will have to find out all while trying to set aside her forbidden feelings for Earl Monroe a dashing American army Major. I loved this cozy mystery set in a quaint English village . It had a very engaging cast of characters and a fast paced mystery. I am looking forward to my next visit to Sitting Marsh.
January 20, 2020
Eager To Read the Entire Manor House Mystery Series
I read the first book of this series but then got caught up with the Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries and never got back to the Manor House. That's all changed now as I enjoyed this story so much I'm determined to read every Manor House Mystery. If for no reason than to learn what happens with Elizabeth and Manor Earl. This book kept my interest throughout each chapter. Not only to solve the murder but also reading about life in an English village occupied by American soldiers during WW II.
I read the first book of this series but then got caught up with the Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries and never got back to the Manor House. That's all changed now as I enjoyed this story so much I'm determined to read every Manor House Mystery. If for no reason than to learn what happens with Elizabeth and Manor Earl. This book kept my interest throughout each chapter. Not only to solve the murder but also reading about life in an English village occupied by American soldiers during WW II.
November 10, 2018
I enjoyed this entry as much as the others in the series. Love the characters. Very nuanced. Elizabeth did make a very stupid mistake near the end which was a little unbelievable considering her intelligence. And the twist to the Polly/Sam storyline is intriguing. My only complaint is that the series is only nine books long. It'll be over far sooner than I'd like.
August 31, 2019
This series is easy reading, satisfying puzzle with ok protagonist and characters, and realistic insights into life in WW II rural England. In this one, the aristocratic (by birth, but not by inclination) protagonist must solve the mystery of the body buried in her garden.
December 6, 2017
3.5***
February 20, 2017
This is the fourth book in the Manor House series, following “For Whom Death Tolls.” The novel is borderline standalone; it can be appreciated as is but has much more impact if the previous entries in the series have already been read.
The setting of this series is Sitting Marsh, a fictional, rural, seaside town outside London, during WWII. The actual year of this story has not been delineated but it is mentioned in the story that our heroine’s parents were killed 3 years previous during The Blitz of London, which ended in mid 1941. Therefore, this story appears to be taking place in the spring/summer of 1943 or 1944.
There are three plot threads working through this cozy mystery, one that is new and two that are continuing since the first book in the series. The new plot thread involves the murder of one of Lady Elizabeth Hartleigh Compton’s tenants, whose body is found buried in Lady Elizabeth’s community Victory Garden.
The second plot line is the continuing drama that is the relationship between Lady Elizabeth’s assistant, Polly, and an American USAAF pilot, Sam Cutter. The relationship takes a quite unexpected turn and lives are irrevocably changed.
The third plot line is the developing relationship between Lady Elizabeth and USAAF Major Earl Monroe. Quite frankly, it is a joy to read Elizabeth’s thoughts and her dialogue with Earl. The author puts a psychological and sociological depth into those thoughts and that dialogue that is a joy to read. Kingsbury is moving the relationship along at the speed of the times in which the characters are assumed to live and in accordance with the expectations of each character’s social and professional status. Therefore, compared to our current times, the relationship seems to be moving at the speed of snail. Only the overt displays of romantic affection are missing, however. The emotional ties are clearly in evidence this time.
One thing I like about this series is that the identity of the murderer is never easy to figure out. This novel may be classified as a “cozy,” but that is only because of the lack of both excessive sex and overly graphic depictions of violence. The violence is there and the danger that Elizabeth finds herself in this time is very real and very much her own fault. When will she ever learn to take back-up with her instead of going into the lion’s den alone?
The setting of this series is Sitting Marsh, a fictional, rural, seaside town outside London, during WWII. The actual year of this story has not been delineated but it is mentioned in the story that our heroine’s parents were killed 3 years previous during The Blitz of London, which ended in mid 1941. Therefore, this story appears to be taking place in the spring/summer of 1943 or 1944.
There are three plot threads working through this cozy mystery, one that is new and two that are continuing since the first book in the series. The new plot thread involves the murder of one of Lady Elizabeth Hartleigh Compton’s tenants, whose body is found buried in Lady Elizabeth’s community Victory Garden.
The second plot line is the continuing drama that is the relationship between Lady Elizabeth’s assistant, Polly, and an American USAAF pilot, Sam Cutter. The relationship takes a quite unexpected turn and lives are irrevocably changed.
The third plot line is the developing relationship between Lady Elizabeth and USAAF Major Earl Monroe. Quite frankly, it is a joy to read Elizabeth’s thoughts and her dialogue with Earl. The author puts a psychological and sociological depth into those thoughts and that dialogue that is a joy to read. Kingsbury is moving the relationship along at the speed of the times in which the characters are assumed to live and in accordance with the expectations of each character’s social and professional status. Therefore, compared to our current times, the relationship seems to be moving at the speed of snail. Only the overt displays of romantic affection are missing, however. The emotional ties are clearly in evidence this time.
One thing I like about this series is that the identity of the murderer is never easy to figure out. This novel may be classified as a “cozy,” but that is only because of the lack of both excessive sex and overly graphic depictions of violence. The violence is there and the danger that Elizabeth finds herself in this time is very real and very much her own fault. When will she ever learn to take back-up with her instead of going into the lion’s den alone?
August 11, 2014
I've ordered the next volume ... Not too bad, the Polly-Sam subplot develops, although I really don't know why Elizabeth who never fails to interfere has never told Sam about Polly's age. Could have saved them a lot of pain. Plus, Elizabeth suffers the consequences of her recklessness which is rather realistic. I wonder how things will proceed from here.
April 13, 2013
Enjoyable cozy read. Figured out the whodunit, the how & pretty much the why but I enjoy the setting & the main characters. Wondering how the next body will appear in this tiny town (?!?!) but will stilll read it.
January 6, 2014
A re-read of a light cozy mystery. Enjoyable.
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/737227...
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/737227...
March 2, 2011
Love this series of books!
September 21, 2011
I liked this one better than the previous installments. The characters are becoming a bit more complex and interesting.
Read
August 31, 2011Lady Elizabeth's instincts get her into serious trouble. It is not easy trying to keep a village together in WW II England, especially with a Major distraction.
November 22, 2012
Quite enjoyable book. Mystery was good. Lady Elizabeth does tend to leap before looking though.
February 22, 2015
love theses series
Light enough for nighttime reading. Heavy enough to be interesting. I also enjoyed the penny foot series from this author
Light enough for nighttime reading. Heavy enough to be interesting. I also enjoyed the penny foot series from this author
March 23, 2015
Enjoyable
A trip back to war time England. Great mystery lots of clues but very subtle characters are the best enjoy
A trip back to war time England. Great mystery lots of clues but very subtle characters are the best enjoy
June 20, 2015
Enjoy this series.
September 5, 2016
Very enjoyable fluff...
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews