Description: Once known to all in her village as the rector's daughter, Lucy is now a mother herself--to a wonderful eighteen-month-old son, Ned. Upon discovering that she is expecting a second child, Lucy and Robert are delighted. In anticipation of the new arrival, Lucy is set on expanding her nursery staff. When Agnes, her current nurse, recommends her cousin, it seems like the perfect solution. But trouble arrives along with the new nursery maid from London. Polly's flirtations provoke fisticuffs in the servants' hall and tumult in the village tavern, and on her afternoon off, she fails to return to the Kurland Estate. When a farmer finds her lifeless body in a drainage ditch, Lucy and Robert fear foul play. To their consternation, they learn their new nursery maid was not who they thought. As Lucy's sister Anna leaves the rectory and moves in to watch over Ned, the couple's search for the truth leads them to the London theater world, where aristocrats purchase their mistresses, and into danger. But the real threat strikes all too close to home ...
Brief description: Catherine Lloyd is the acclaimed author of Regency-set historical mysteries, including the Kurland St. Mary Mystery series and Miss Morton and the English House Party Murder. Born just outside London, England, into a large family of dreamers, artists, and history lovers, she holds a master's degree in history from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. She currently lives in Hawaii with her husband and four children.