The Case of the Missing Morris Dancer

December 7, 2015
Ace’s gentle sequel to 2015’s The Case of the Dotty Dowager resettles the members of the WISE Enquiries Agency—Christine Wilson-Smythe, Annie Parker, Mavis MacDonald, and Carol Hill—formerly of London, in Anwen-by-Wye, Wales, where Henry Twyst, the 18th Duke of Chellingworth, (whom the four women helped in Dotty Dowager), once again has a problem. Henry is due soon to be married on St. David’s Day, March 1, but Aubrey Morris, a key member of the Morris dancers meant to perform at the wedding, has gone missing. Henry’s dowager mother, Althea, asks the WISE women to track Aubrey down, and they’re soon on the man’s trail. In between cups of tea and plenty of cookies, Christine, Annie, Mavis, and Carol take great pride in their ability to harness newfangled technological devices in their quest for clues. Cozy fans will enjoy their chitchat as much as their sleuthing. Agent: Priya Doraswamy, Lotus Lane Literary.

December 1, 2015
Wedding plans are made even more difficult when a man goes missing. Henry Twyst, the 18th Duke of Chellingworth, is about to marry Stephanie Timbers in a grand ceremony at his Welsh estate. A quiet and pompous fellow, the duke is overwhelmed by all the arrangements. Luckily, his mother, the sprightly Dowager Duchess Althea, has things well in hand until the musician for the Morris Dancers vanishes. Althea is an honorary member of the WISE Enquiries Agency, whose other members have made their homes on or near the estate since solving an earlier case for the duke and dowager duchess (The Case of the Dotty Dowager, 2015, etc.). The roster of WISE includes the heavily pregnant Carol Hill, a Welsh computer expert; the Honorable Christine Wilson-Smythe, a well-connected Irishwoman; retired Scottish nurse Mavis MacDonald; and Annie Parker, a Londoner born in the Caribbean. Their very different strengths and skills come in handy as they search for Aubrey Morris, a respected but secretive local handyman who plays for the Morris Dancers and keeps all the tools of their trade, which have vanished as well. Everyone pitches in to try to keep the wedding plans on track while the ladies of WISE explore Aubrey's background, hack his computer, and pick up every bit of local gossip in hopes of finding the missing man. The diverse sleuths are charming enough to raise WISE's latest adventure above the rather mundane mystery.

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January 1, 2016

The countdown has begun. Henry Devereaux Twyst, 18th Duke of Chellingford, is getting married in Wales. He is deeply in love with his fiancee but is overwhelmed by the excessive wedding details. There are far too many traditions involved--the Welsh cakes, the decorating, the gwadhoddwr to announce their nuptials, not to mention the Morris dancers who must proceed the wedding party through the streets of Anwen-on-Wye. Except Aubrey Morris, the keeper of the troupe's kit of exquisite 16th-century silver bells, engraved sticks, and massive baton, is missing. The ladies of the WISE (Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England) Enquiries Agency are on the case to find Aubrey. VERDICT This charming sequel to The Case of the Dotty Dowager will delight M.C. Beaton and Jeanne M. Dams readers as the lively ladies use their individual talents to track down their quarry.

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