The Body at Penford Priory

Lady Jane and Mrs Forbes #3

by B.D. Churston

England, Summer 1928.

When Kate Forbes visits her niece, Lady Jane Scott at an archaeological dig, both are hoping to discover evidence of Medieval life.

What they don’t expect to encounter is a body buried only twenty years ago, a perplexing mystery, and the arrival of Inspector Ridley from Scotland Yard.

Join Mrs Forbes and Lady Jane in a classic Golden Age cozy mystery with plenty of humour and intrigue. Perfect for fans of Poirot, Miss Marple and Murder She Wrote.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical, Cozy

247 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 23, 2023

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate set out for a visit to her niece on an archeological dig, determined that she would be the one to find a body and, sure enough, she did. Trouble was, this body was quite a bit fresher than the medieval bones she hoped to find. BD Churston introduced an entertaining historical cozy mystery that was light and entertaining with a clever mystery to keep the listener guessing.

The Body at Penford Priory is the third in this series of standalone cozy historical mysteries featuring an aunt and niece team of amateur sleuths who seem to stumble onto bodies a great deal too often thinks the Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Ridley, who has known them since their first detecting venture.

The body seems to be from the last time an Oxford team of archeologists came to dig around the priory ruins so the murder implicates those who were there at the time including the lead Professor on Jane’s project, some local diggers, and the owners of the land the priory’s on.

I enjoyed the blend of historical late 1920’s era, the Medieval history around the priory, and the delve into the locals and team for the answers to the mystery, but it was fun getting to know Jane and Kate who are entertaining in their two separate ways of getting at answers. There is a much slower pacing in places as they go over their case thoughts, a little repetitiously, but it does pick back up again. Kate’s hilarious and Jane the more analytical- incidentally, also the one to really work out what happened.

The narrator, Julie Anthony was new to me, but had some lovely British accents and voiced the cast of men and women of different ages and social stratas very well. I found her voice easy on the ears, but did need to bump up the speed on my player because her pacing was slower.

All in all, my first venture with Lady Jane and Mrs. Forbes was a relaxing and amusing. I would recommend the series to those who like cozy mysteries with a goodly amount of humor set in a historical period.

I rec'd an audio copy from Tantor Audio to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

My full review will post at The Quill Ink 8.8.24.

[Anam Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved every one of these books. I will place a preorder for the next one in the series.

I am constantly surprised (I should have it ingrained by now) that the REAL detective is Lady Jane. She is the one who solves the mysteries. But I do love Katherine Forbes, her aunt.

In this one a body is found in a trench being dug in an archeological did. Who murdered this woman about 20 years before?

[Mark Beer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third on the series of these books and this was definitely my favourite so far. It’s probably a 3.5 but definitely not a 3, so happy to give it a 4. The whiter seems to have found their stride in these books and Lady Jane and her Aunt, Kate are getting braver in their investigations. They must definitely do people’s heads in though lol! Look g forward to the next one in July 2024!

[Freda Lawes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gentle but intriguing

Lady Jane and her aunt feel like lovely friends, who include me in their crime solving. There is the inevitable murder but not in a shocking way (well, not the first one, anyway) and the clever way that Jane and Kate sort out the whys and wherefores leading up to the solving of the crime is very cleverly written.

[Tony Hisgett · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books seem to start and finish quite well, but the bit in the middle isn’t as successful. There are a lot of aimless questions, then about three quarters of the way through the book Jane has a sudden revelation and knows who the murderer is, although the author makes a point of not letting the reader know until the end of the book.
If possible I would have given 2.5 stars.

[KathleenWH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always enjoyable

I find the Lady Jane and Mrs Forbes books to be enjoyable reads.

This one doesn’t disappoint, and with long-run family feuds and general
suspicions about neighbors, the plot matures nicely.

I highly recommend this volume

[Elainebowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

Another cracking good read,the characters are really well written and the description of the places are wonderful,I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cosy mystery stories.

[Phillip Mclaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another superb mystery. Te series never ceases to excite, and confound me as to who done it, until the very end. Granted all the clues are presented as part of the story, but this series continues to entertain through the last chapter and its revelations.
On to the next one.
Highly recommend.

[marlys norby · Rating 5 out of 5]

complex and well written

The characters and plots grip you right away. For the aunt niece relationship I love the style and affection conveyed between 2 strong women.

[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment of this series. I enjoyed myself. Great summer reads.

[Gina Helm Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed all the books so far. Wish there were lots more. 😁