Death in a Scarlet Coat

Lord Francis Powerscourt and his wife, Lucy,  are forced to stay in Candlesby following a minor motor vehicle accident in which they were involved.  Unbeknownst to them, the earl of the locality has recently died under suspicious circumstances.  The sons of the earl are doing their best to cover up the cause of death.

A few days later, Powerscourt is called back to Candlesby by the local doctor.  He admits to falsifying the death certificate of the earl.  Armed with this evidence, Powerscourt approaches Inspector Blunden, wondering how to proceed.  In further investigations, Powerscourt learns that there are several people who would have enacted the earl dead.  He then enlists the aid of his wife and friend, Johnny Fitzgerald.

The body is exhumed and it is determined that the former earl was brutally murdered.  Now an inquest into the death is required.  The inquest determines unlawful death.  Shortly thereafter, when the new earl is on his way to London to be invested into the House of Lords, he too is murdered.

It takes some time for the Powerscourt team to put together the evidence in this case, which has some interesting twists before author David Dickinson presents the reader with a surprising conclusion.  A good read.