Lady Eleanor, as she would prefer not to be known, reluctantly returns to her uncle’s home, Henley Hall. Now Lord Henley is gone, she is the owner of the cold and musty manor. What’s a girl to do? Well, befriend the household dog, Gladstone, for a start, and head straight out for a walk in the English countryside, even though a storm is brewing…
But then, from the edge of a quarry, through the driving rain, Eleanor is shocked to see a man shot and killed in the distance. Before she can climb down to the spot, the villain is gone and the body has vanished. With no victim and the local police convinced she’s stirring up trouble, Eleanor vows to solve this affair by herself. And when her brakes are mysteriously cut, one thing seems sure: someone in this quiet country town has Lady Eleanor Swift in their murderous sights…
If you enjoy witty dialogue, glamorous intrigue and the very best of Golden Age mysteries, then you will adore Verity Bright’s unputdownable whodunnit, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Downton Abbey!
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Historical Notes
Brighton
There have been signs of habitation in and around Brighton for 250,000 years. By 1780 it was a small fishing village of 2000 people. Then, Doctor Richard Russell, a famous doctor from the nearby Lewes (the ladies take a day trip to the town) declared a dip in its seawater to be a cure for many ills and the rich and titled soon flocked there, including royalty. The population had reached around 150,000 by the time Eleanor, Clifford and the ladies visited and it was firmly established as the poshest seaside resort in the South of England.
The Grand
Built in 1864, the Grand was soon the most prestigious place to stay in Brighton and nothing had changed by the time Eleanor and Clifford arrive. Unfortunately, most people know the Grand nowadays as the hotel the IRA bombed in 1984 during the Conservative Party Conference.
‘Something Blue’, ‘Something Borrowed’, ‘Sixpence in the hand’
In the mid 1780s George, Prince of Wales, was advised by his physicians to benefit from Brighton’s fortunate climate and to try out the seawater treatments. He rented a small lodging house in Brighton. In 1815, he became the Prince Regent because his father, George III, had been deemed incapable of acting as monarch. Immediately he commissioned John Nash to transform his modest residence into a magnificent oriental palace, which became known as the Royal Pavilion. Nash made sure George’s love of the colour blue was evident in the decor.
In 1837 Queen Victoria took the throne. She found the Pavilion too small and inconvenient for her family and sold it for £50,000 to Brighton council in 1850. The Pavilion was converted and opened to the public in 1851 as a venue for many different events and functions from fetes, bazaars and shows, to balls, exhibitions and conferences.
From 1851 to the 1920s the admission fee to the Royal Pavilion was sixpence. During World War I the Royal Pavilion was ‘borrowed’ as a hospital for Indian soldiers injured fighting in the British Army and later to treat wounded British soldiers.
‘Something New’ – a red herring
Royal Pavilion Gateway. To honour Indian soldiers who came to Brighton hospitals, including the Pavilion, Brighton erected a new Pavilion gateway. On Wednesday 26 October, 1921, His Highness the Maharaja of Patiala accepted an invitation to perform the ceremony of unveiling and dedicating the new gateway and presenting it to the Corporation of Brighton for the use of its inhabitants.
‘Something New’ – the correct clue
To honour those Indian soldiers who died at the hospitals in Brighton, including the Pavilion, a memorial, the Chattri, was erected in 1921. It was built on the spot where the Hindu and Sikh soldiers were cremated. It was officially opened by Edward, Prince of Wales, in February 1921, which made it only a few weeks old when Hilary would have hidden the diamond there. The only historical licence taken was to move the date the Prince of Wales visited forward a few weeks.
‘Something Old’
Diamonds are one of the oldest minerals on earth. The oldest diamonds ever found were hidden in zircon grains and ranged from 3 – 4 billion years old. Normal diamonds can be as much as 1 billion years old. And for purists, Eleanor isn’t quite right when she says, ‘Poor Hilary, killed for a bunch of rocks’ as diamonds aren’t actually rocks.
Brighton and the Diamond Connection
Sir Bernard Oppenheimer, 1st Baronet (1866 – 1921) was a British diamond merchant with links to South Africa. He established a diamond-cutting works in Brighton in 1918. Being a philanthropist, he also established a scheme to train disabled soldiers from the Brighton hospitals, including the Royal Pavilion. They received six months’ training, subsidised by the government, and then were guaranteed a job at a good wage in the diamond works. Sir Bernard Oppenheimer also made sure there was a clinic at the factory for the workers, many of whom were severely disabled. Hilary actually came to Brighton because his brother, Thomas, was there. Whether he intended to try to sell the diamond he’d stolen to Sir Bernard Oppenheimer, Eleanor will never know.
The South African Military Nursing Service (SAMNS)
In August 1914, South Africa formed a military nursing service to treat South African soldiers injured in the fighting. However, there was no fighting in South Africa itself, so the nurses were sent abroad, mostly to a military hospital in Abbeville, France, and another in Richmond, England. Eleanor ended up in Abbeville before returning to South Africa, but that’s a story for another time…
Acknowledgements
To Maisie, our wonderful editor, and the rest of the team at Bookouture who made writing Mystery by the Sea such fun.
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Published by Bookouture in 2021
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Copyright © Verity Bright, 2021
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-80019-393-2
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Mystery by the Sea: An utterly addictive English cozy mystery (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Book 5) Page 26