The Berkeley Brigade (Lord Luten, Corinne deCoventry, Coffen Pattle and Sir Reginald Prance) have come to Byron’s Newstead Abbey to celebrate Christmas. But Pattle finds a long-buried body on the estate’s island and the Brigade is intrigued. Suspects aplenty: the odd local vicar, the mysterious Vulch and his missing wife, Sir William and Lady Richardson who arrived in the neighborhood before expected—and rumored ghosts at the Abbey. [7th of the Berkeley Brigade Mysteries] Regency Mystery by Joan Smith; originally published by Belgrave House/Regency Reads

The Berkeley Brigade undertakes an investigation for Mrs. Ballard, Lady deCoventry’s chaperone. Mrs. Ballard’s whist group played for pennies, but one of its members had been murdered. Not the Brigade’s usual challenge perhaps, until someone else is killed—and suspicion falls on several parties. So Lord Luten, Corinne deCoventry, Sir Reginald Prance, and Coffen Pattle, together with Lord Byron and Black, Lady deCoventry’s butler, seek out the truth. 8th Berkeley Brigade Mystery. Regency Mystery by Joan Smith; originally published by Belgrave House/Regency Reads

This colourful and thoroughly researched history of the Lord Delamere branch of the British aristocracy focuses on the famous Vale Royal Abbey in Cheshire, England. The Cholmondeley family, who owned the Abbey throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, are described in lavish and intimate detail as they maneuvered to maintain, through three generations, their status as a leading family in the United Kingdom. Beginning in the late 17th century, we follow Charles Cholmondeley as he served as a member of the King’s army in Canada in the war against the French. Part I witnesses the ubiquitous Thomas Cholmondeley who purchased the title ‘Lord (Baron) Delamere’ for £5000 from the British crown in 1821. Part II covers the 2nd Lord Delamere, Hugh Cholmondeley, who led a very sad and difficult life, and experienced the deterioration of Vale Royal. Part III reviews the life of Hugh Cholmondeley, Jnr., 3rd Lord Delamere, his abandonment of Vale Royal Abbey and his relocation to East Africa. Narcissistic Hugh was part of the notorious “happy valley crowd” of Kenya and their lives of debauchery, sex and drugs. The Vale Royal Abbey lives on today, a national treasure and testament to the intriguing lives of those who occupied it over the centuries.

The Berkeley Brigade—Lord Luten, Corinne deCoventry (newly Lady Luten), Sir Reginald Prance and Coffen Pattle—soon have a chance to aid their country by bringing a spy to justice. Their one clue, written by the victim in his blood, to the spy’s identity is baffling. But the spy seems to know every move they make—and to foil them while taking advantage of their difficulties. 9th Berkeley Brigade Mystery. Regency Mystery by Joan Smith; originally published by Belgrave House/Regency Reads

The Missing Monument Murders is a veiled story of power, wealth, dark deeds and intrigue. In 1806, Jane Austen’s relative, the Reverend Thomas Leigh, came into vast estates and the mood in the extended Leigh/Austen family was jubilant. But within a few years, bizarre events were the talk of the district: the removal and destruction of monuments in the village church, cheating, blackmail, and the eviction of tenants who dared speak of events. It would even be alleged that the family engaged in murder to protect their inheritance. Judy Stove’s painstaking research pieces together for the first time in detail the full story, in which whistle blower Charles Griffin, a local solicitor, ended up in gaol. Whether scandal-mongering or clever and powerful suppression at a time when criminal investigations were all but non-existent, the truth remains a mystery. One that touched on Austen’s own world and in which connections not just to the great and the good but to some of her characters, plots and personal life unfold. Author Judy Stove is an academic based at the University of New South Wales, a role she balances with working in school administration. After studying classics at the University of Sydney, she worked for the Australian Commonwealth Departments of Defence and Finance. She is married with two adult sons, and is an active member of the Jane Austen Society of Australia.

The section on Abbotsford describes a visit to Sir Walter Scott, and that on Newstead consists of a description of the abbey.