Murder at the Polo Club

Cleopatra Fox Mysteries, Book 7

By: C.J. Archer

Narrated by: Marian Hussey

The sport of kings is the backdrop for a game of murder where one player loses more than the match. Can Cleo solve the case, or will the murderer win?

Summer has arrived along with a plethora of social events that keep Cleo and her cousins busy. Between balls, dinners, concerts and picnics, they attend the final match between two proud polo clubs. When the winning team’s captain is found murdered in the stables, everyone assumes the opposing team’s captain killed him. After all, he was found holding the murder weapon, and everyone knows they hated each other.

But Cleo isn’t convinced. She sets out to prove his innocence alongside Harry Armitage, who was employed to investigate the accused man’s family. With their cases overlapping, it makes sense to work together.

The more they get to know the victim, the more they realize the handsome athlete sported a dark side that few people saw. Those who did had a reason to kill him. Which suspect struck the victim with his own polo mallet? His wife, lover, friends or colleagues?

Or did the rivalry between two opposing captains spill over to their personal lives, and lead to murder?

©2023 C.J. Archer (P)2023 C.J. Archer

Love Cleopatra Fox mysteries!

I love all the characters, setting and stories! I am looking forward to the next novel!

Cleo is a QUEEN

CJ Archer is just brilliant. No one does historical fiction like her. Wit and intrigue. Plot and great pacing. The Cleopatra Fox Mysteries continue to be a favorite of mine.

Best one yet!

I love this series and this book in my opinion was one of the best so far! I really loved that Harry and Cleo’s relationship is finally moving forward in an exciting direction. Now to wait 6 more months for the next book…ahhh!!!

Harry & Cleopatras changing relationship.

Cleopatra’s confidence as a detective is growing. Yet her musings at times reveal not only her uncertainties as a female in a male pursuit but an underlying ambivalence.

Entertaining Read

This is a thoroughly entertaining book and series that hooked me from Book #1 through this 7th outing, and I am eagerly awaiting Book #8 (this summer, I hope).

Set in 1900 London, 23 year old Cleopatra Fox is the much loved but "poor relation" dependent on her uncle's largesse for support. An intelligent and educated woman, Cleo is determined to eventually support herself, and after discovering that she has a talent for investigating all manner of things, including murder, she is working to establish herself as a private investigator. Not surprisingly, her endeavors are thwarted by her gender and a well meaning but headstrong uncle. Her status as a gentlewoman is a double-edged sword, providing her entrance into the hallowed halls of society while often subjecting her to sensor by that same society. Nonetheless, Cleo has managed to get limited approval from her uncle and to investigate a fair number of murders and other matters, all of which have proven most entertaining. As with all series, readers are required to suspend disbelief as to the number of murders that could possibly take place in a given location, or in this case, the number on which a gentlewoman stumbles or otherwise becomes involved, but I, for one, am oh so glad she does.

After a very rocky start in Book #1, Cleo and Harry Armitage make a delightful investigating duo and are the very definition of a slow burn romance, actually, they may be more of a flint and metal burn. I know that sometimes the fun is in the anticipation, but we are on Book #7, so . . . Of course, there is Cleo's aversion to marriage, not to mention that pesky uncle and those societal road blocks to overcome, but I love a good challenge.

In addition to Cleo and Harry, Ms. Archer delights us with an array of supporting characters, most of whom we find endearing and a few who are less than. Either way, they enhance and often add a few extra layers to the unfolding story.

The dialogue flows, and the plots and sub-plots are surprisingly complex, often including glimpses into societal ills that remain with us in one form or another.

I highly recommend this book, and the narration is perfection.