Murder Under The Mistletoe

By

Darryl Martel.

When Eleanor Middleton takes the 5:15 train to visit her old friend, Margaret Redfern, she witnesses something chilling: as another train momentarily runs parallel to hers, she sees a man strangling a woman. It lasts only a few seconds, but the horror is unmistakable. Eleanor reports the crime immediately, but no body is found. No missing persons match the description of the victim, blonde, fur coat, delicate hands reaching for help.

Margaret Redfern, an unassuming yet razor-sharp former schoolteacher with a penchant for solving puzzles, believes Eleanor completely. If no body has been found, it simply means someone has gone to great lengths to hide it.

Using maps, train timetables, and her unerring logic, Margaret determines that the most likely location for the body is the estate of Thornfield Grange, home of the wealthy yet secretive Wainwright family. With the help of her sharp-witted niece, Clara Redfern, Margaret arranges for Clara to take a job as a temporary housekeeper at the Grange. It isn't long before Clara uncovers something disturbing: strands of blonde hair caught in an old trunk in the attic and a compact mirror, shattered on the floor beneath it.

As Clara delves deeper into the household's secrets, Margaret pieces together the tangled relationships within the Wainwright family: