Christmas at Pennington’s

Christmas at Pennington's

by Rachel Brimble
Setting: England
Genres: Fiction, Historical
Format: eBook Source: Book Tour, From author/publisher

Gripping drama as Pennington's department store prepares for a glittering Christmas in 1911, but a killer stalks the women of Bath.

Christmas sees Pennington's at its most glorious, thronged with shoppers, its grand staircase and balcony adorned with holly, mistletoe, tinsel and lights. It should be the happiest time, but dramas are seething beneath the surface.

For Cornelia Culford, in charge of jewellery, a divorce hearing looms, where she could lose custody of her young sons to her overbearing and unfaithful husband.

For Stephen Gower, being head of security at Pennington's is the perfect refuge from a tragic past at Scotland Yard. But soon the past will call him back, as Joseph Carter and Elizabeth Pennington beg him to help solve the murder of Joseph's first wife, now that it seems as if the killer has struck again.

For Joseph and Elizabeth, their marriage depends on exorcising the past. But can it ever be laid to rest?

This is the third book that I’ve read in this series set in an English department store. Each of the books focuses on a particular couple but because there is a larger mystery that moves through all of them, it is best to read them in order. 

Cornelia is a soon to be divorced woman who is working at the jewelry counter.  Stephen is a policeman on leave pending an investigation into his role in a case that went horribly wrong.  He’s working security at the store.  Several people find out that he is from Scotland Yard and decide to enlist him in solving problems of their own.  He doesn’t want to be involved in anyone’s affairs but he finds himself being drawn in.

I like the setting of the books.  It is 1911.  That’s isn’t a time period I see represented a lot in historical fiction.  The backbone of this series is women who are trying to move themselves out of the domestic sphere that they have been pigeonholed in.  One is trying to run a business.  One is active in trying to get the vote.  One is trying to get away from an abusive husband.  I like seeing those perspectives.

I’m not a fan of the men in these books.  I really learned to despise the man who was the romantic lead of book one.  He’s obsessed with finding out who murdered his first wife.  That’s fine but it is turning him increasingly nasty which is an interesting story arc for a person who was supposed to be a hero.  He keeps saying that his first wife won’t be able to rest in peace if he doesn’t find her murderer.  I don’t think that is how it works.  She doesn’t care because she is dead.  You care, sir. 

I wasn’t a huge fan of the resolution of that story line either.  For the buildup it was over pretty quickly.  There was a connection between several victims that I have a hard time believing no one noticed.  “Oh, 50% of our group has been murdered?  Is that why we don’t need as many refreshments at meetings?”

But if you are willing to let that go, it is an interesting look at a time and place.

 

Author Bio –
Rachel lives with her husband and their two daughters in a small town near Bath, England. Since 2007, she has had several novels published by small US presses, eight books published by Harlequin Superromance (Templeton Cove Stories) and four Victorian romances with eKensington/Lyrical.
In January 2018, she signed a four-book deal with Aria Fiction for a new Edwardian series set in Bath’s finest department store. The Mistress of Pennington’s released July 2018, A Rebel At
Pennington’s February 2019 and Christmas At Pennington’s September 2019.
Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America and has thousands of social media followers all over the world. To sign up for her quarterly and new release newsletter, click here to go to her website: https://rachelbrimble.com/

 

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