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  • A Sinister Service

  • Lady and Lady's Maid, Book 6
  • By: Alyssa Maxwell
  • Narrated by: Mandy Weston
  • Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (36 ratings)
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A Sinister Service

By: Alyssa Maxwell
Narrated by: Mandy Weston
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Summary

In the Alyssa Maxwell's sixth delightful A Lady and Lady's Maid Mystery set after World War I, a trip to Staffordshire for Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady's maid, Eva Huntford, leads to murder in a famed pottery works....

Following the devastation of the Great War, England's noble class takes comfort in honoring tradition. To celebrate their grandparents' wedding anniversary, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her siblings travel to Staffordshire to commission a china service bearing the Wroxly coat of arms from the venerated Crown Lily Potteries, a favorite of Queen Mary.

The two leading designers at the illustrious china manufacturer offer competing patterns. But when one of them is found dead - his body crushed in a grinding pan and his design pattern book missing - his rival is immediately suspected. The police are also suspicious of the dead designer's resentful young son, a schoolmate of Phoebe's 15-year-old brother, Fox. When Fox gets involved to help his friend, Phoebe begins to investigate the rival artist.

At the same time, Eva is enlisted to go undercover at the works so she can gain the confidence of the female employees, who are only allowed to paint, not design, which may have led to a grudge against the victim. Pursuing a killer who has no compunction about using a kiln as a coffin, Phoebe and Eva take their lives into their hands to discover the shattering truth....

©2021 Alyssa Maxwell (P)2021 W F Howes

What listeners say about A Sinister Service

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Another great story

Love these but saying “gotten” in this book, really grates on me as surely the aristocratic set would not have used such vocabulary. Is this actually in the book or is the narrator changing it?
Looking forward to listening to the next one. It’s a shame that the final one in the series is not on this freebie option.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Love this series!

I’m a big fan of these books and really love the characters. It’s well researched and truly evokes the post-WWI era.
The narrator’s voice is perfect for this and she really brings the people to life.

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A Sinister Service

This murder mystery seemed to go around and around, with fun bits and silly bits. Not sure all was believable but the story was good. Read brilliantly again by Mandy Weston.

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    4 out of 5 stars

very enjoyable

I've listened to the whole series and really enjoyed them - definitely a cut above the usual "cozy mystery" and well researched, I've learnt a lot about attitudes and socio-economic issues in the aftermath of the first world war. Nicely narrated too. My only complaint is the Americanisms that keep crooping up, and have done so in all the books but particularly this one. "Gas" for petrol, downtown, bangs, "gotten" - it's such a shame as they really jar against the backdrop of English country house history and customs, and sound entirely wrong when spoken in such a beautifully enunciated english accent! A shame this wasn't picked up by an editor, but on the whole, I recommend this book and this series

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really enjoyed how the characters have developed

I've enjoyed the series but have really enjoyed how the characters have developed and their relationships changed.

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Yet another great episode from this series.

Another great listening episode from this series. I have really enjoyed this whole series, great author, characters and narrator as usual.

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