A Case of Duplicity in Dorset (Freddy Pilkington-Soames #4) by Clara Benson (Feb/March 23)

[Susan]

Welcome to our Feb/March 23 buddy read of A Case of Duplicity in Dorset the fourth in the Freddy Pilkington-Soames series.

When the Duke of Purbeck throws a house party to celebrate his daughter's twenty-first birthday and present her with a family heirloom, nobody expects that the weekend will end in murder. The fabled Belsingham pearls have a history steeped in blood and slaughter dating back more than a century—and now it seems they've claimed another life, when the interfering and opinionated Professor Coddington is found dead in the library with the pearls clutched in his hand. It looks like a robbery gone wrong, but then why didn't the thief take the necklace? And how did he escape unnoticed, given that half the guests were seemingly wandering around the house at the time of the murder?

House guest Freddy Pilkington-Soames has enough on his plate already, with a lecherous nuisance of a grandfather to keep an eye on, a girlfriend his mother disapproves of, and an ex-girlfriend who's engaged to another man but shows signs of changing her mind. But with a killer on the loose in the house, it's time to forget his own troubles and rise to the occasion—or risk a scandal that could destroy the reputation of his whole family.

Please do not post spoilers in this thread. Thank you.

[Judy]

Back to this popular series! Just opening up this thread. Who is up for another adventure with Freddy?

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Susan in NC]

I always enjoy a visit with Freddy! I thought the house party setting was a fun change from London.

[Teri-K]

I've not read any of these before, but I don't mind joining a series in progress - it used to happen a lot when I depended on physical library books. I plan to start this one pretty soon.

[Susan]

I thought this was the best so far and good to see some of Freddy's family members, other than Cynthia.

[Susan in NC]

Yes, I enjoyed meeting the fam - I just can’t keep his various love interests straight…

[Susan]

It may be just me, but I can't bear the expression, 'the fam!' I know, I'm old.

[Judy]

I'm looking forward to this one but need to finish a couple of other books first before I start!

[Susan in NC]

Susan wrote: "It may be just me, but I can't bear the expression, 'the fam!' I know, I'm old."

Me, too, just a lazy typist! Never have gotten used to typing on glass screen of iPad…

[Michaela]

Me three lol! Too many books for this month...

[Teri-K]

I'm not going to finish this book. It's the first time I've read the series, but I read lots out of order and it hasn't been a problem. It may be I'm not in the right mood and I can see that Freddy seems to be fun to read about. But I'm just not interested in anyone enough to keep going at the 33% mark. I'm glad I tried it, though. I always like trying out new authors. I hope the rest of you enjoy your choice!

[Judy]

I've finally started this one now and am enjoying the start - I can see there are going to be a lot of characters to keep track of, though!

[Judy]

I've read about a third and it's getting rather silly but fun - Professor Coddington is entertaining to read about. Hoping to finish this as quickly as possible so I don't get it mixed up with our new group read and challenge read, which are both about house parties too!

[Michaela]

I´m the same, Judy. Too many reads here and in other groups. :)

[Judy]

Definitely, Michaela - far more books than I have time to read! I'm getting towards the end of this and don't have a clue about the murderer, but it's interesting to see more sides of Freddy, with his extended family and two love interests. He definitely seems to have become a bit more sensible than he was in the Angela books.