Murder, Mannequins, and Other Shopfront Disasters

A Cozy Edwardian Mystery of Love and Murder

This season, death comes in your size. At Montague’s Emporium on Regent Street, the Christmas window is meant to display gowns, not corpses. When junior window dresser Hester Linwood reaches in to straighten a mannequin and finds cold flesh and a very real bruise, she ruins the unveiling, horrifies the crowd, and earns the focused attention of two men: her impeccably tailored employer, Julian Montague, and an inspector who distrusts both instalment plans and spectacle.

With Montague’s reputation on the line, a rival store smirking across the road, and half the staff hiding awkward truths about money, keys, and after hours corridors, Hester is drafted as Julian’s unofficial investigator. Which would be flattering if it were not also dangerous. If they cannot learn who turned an overdrawn society matron into a shopfront attraction, Hester stands to lose her position, her hard won independence, and the fragile, sharply bantered understanding growing between herself and the man who prefers his life arranged like a perfect display.

A cozy Edwardian department store mystery with a fair play puzzle, clue rich investigation, and a satisfying, logical solution, it offers smog, silk, and just enough peril to sharpen your tea. Violence is non gory on the page, the romance is a slow burn, closed door partnership with a clear happy for now, and there are more bodies and flirtations waiting in the Murder & Manners Society world. Perfect for readers who enjoy sharp witted working heroines, dry humour, department store dramas, and watching two competent people fall inconveniently in love while hunting a killer. Slip behind the glass and start your visit to Montague’s today.