THE CLUE IS IN THE PUDDING by Kate Kingsbury

"Christmas at the Pennyfoot"

The Clue Is In The Pudding

Posted: January 2, 2013

Christmas has come to the Pennyfoot Country Club. The housekeeper Mrs. Chubbs has gone to visit her daughter and Mrs. Tucker has come to take her place. None of the staff like Mrs. Tucker at all. A famous actor has also come to stay by the name of Archibald Armitage. While some are thrilled to have the actor in residence, others are not happy. One day Armitage is found dead in his room and the cause was poisoning. Cecily Sinclair Baxter the manager of the Club takes it upon herself once again to find the person responsible and bring him or her to justice. During her investigation she finds that multiple people have a motive to see Mr. Armitage dead. At first she thinks THE CLUE IS IN THE PUDDING when she learns that he is given the first slice, but that turns out not to be the case. The killer could have been the man that lost all his money because of Armitage, or the young woman who was compromised, then it could have been the father whose daughter committed suicide because of him. Then again it could have been someone else.

This cozy mystery was a delight to read. It is the 20th book in the Pennyfoot Hotel series, but can easily stand on it's own. Having not read any of the other books I had no problem being engrossed by this one. There is quite an entertaining group of characters from Gertie the head housemaid, to Madeline Prestwick the doctor's wife and self proclaimed witch. Cecily's innate curiosity gets both her and Samuel the stable manager in trouble again, while her husband wrings his hands and threatens to move them away from Pennyfoot if his wife can't leave the detective work to those trained to do it. The mystery Ms. Kingsbury weaves around this quaint hotel and it's staff and guests is a wonderful holiday read. A great way to spend an afternoon curled up with a cut of tea.

Book Summary

The kitchen staff of the Pennyfoot Hotel is toiling away to prepare the finest meal for the guests on Christmas. And the plum pudding may very well be to die for…

Cecily Sinclair Baxter could use a Christmas miracle. Mrs. Chubb, the Pennyfoot’s housekeeper, must travel up north for a family emergency, and Cecily needs a temporary replacement. The agency doesn’t have much to offer on short notice during this busy time of year. But they have someone—Beatrice Tucker—who turns out to be more of a curse. She fights with just about everyone, including Archibald Armitage.

Star of the London stage, Armitage is staying at the Pennyfoot this holiday season. His presence turns out to be a blessing after he rescues the stable manager’s dog from drowning in the icy duck pond. But not everyone in Badgers End is a fan of the actor…

When Armitage drops dead after Beatrice serves him some plum pudding, everyone assumes the huffy housekeeper is the culprit. But as Cecily begins to investigate, the list of suspects grows, and solving this case may not be as easy as pie…or pudding.

Read an Excerpt

The Clue Is In The Pudding

by: Kate Kingsbury

Pennyfoot Hotel #20

Berkley
November 1, 2012
On Sale: November 6, 2012
Featuring:
304 pages
ISBN: 0425253279
EAN: 9780425253274
Kindle: B008EXK9GU
Paperback / e-Book

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