Murder on the Rocks (A Lady Hardcastle Mystery #13)

Lunch, as the kitchen aromas had promised, was magnificent.

Talented chefs can work wonders with sauces and delicate, fussy ingredients.

But a country house cook, with nothing more than a joint of beef, some roast potatoes and a few vegetables, can conjure up a meal so thrillingly spectacular that men will offer their entire fortunes for just one more bite of gravy-soaked Yorkshire pudding.

Despite the impression I’d gained from Patience and Clarice’s urgent desire to leave the others in the library, the assembled guests were in quite good form. Conversation was light and bright, and hatchets, if not buried, had at least been laid to one side for the time being.