Steeped in old-world grandeur, a dilapidated and possibly haunted mansion is at the center of Brandy Schillace's The Framed Women of Ardemore House, a marvelous contemporary murder mystery seasoned with a dash of romance and set in England's Yorkshire countryside.
Jo Jones is an American editor who recently inherited Ardemore House, the ancestral estate belonging to her mother's family. Jo's arrival at the property is met with hostility by the longtime groundskeeper, Sid Randles, especially after she finds a portrait of a mysterious young woman hidden in a locked room. Who is this long-ago relative and what happened to her? Before she can probe further, the painting vanishes and Sid, the person Jo accuses of stealing it, turns up dead. Was he killed by one of his three ex-wives?
A rumpled-looking Detective Chief Inspector MacAdams leads the investigation into Sid's murder. Meanwhile, Jo becomes consumed by the identity of the woman in the missing painting. Was she Jo's relative? What happened to her? Her search leads her in terrifying directions and collides with the police inquiry as the killer strikes again.
Jo stands out in the small Yorkshire town, not only for her American accent but also because she is neurodivergent. Intimately familiar with neurodiversity, Schillace (Mr. Humble & Dr. Butcher) portrays Jo's differences with a witty openness. The Framed Women of Ardemore House has both a protagonist whose imperfections are part of her charm and locals with a host of secrets among them, so it is sure to delight fans of British crime fiction. --Shahina Piyarali