Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and author Helena Dixon for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

By all accounts, the books in Helena Dixon’s Miss Underhay Mystery series should be something I read once or two of, then dismiss. While the mysteries are decent, the writing is very formulaic and really glosses over the social issues that were present during the time this is set in. For instance, in Murder in New York, the lead characters visit Kitty Underhay’s father in New York City. Although set in the 1930s, there’s little acknowledgement that The Great Depression is going on. When I thought about writing this review, I had to ask myself what appeals to me about these books. It came to me. They remind me of the Nancy Drew series I loved as a tween, where real life tended not to intrude on anything Nancy wanted to accomplish.

Murder at the English Manor is another bit of escapism. In past books, there was some talk of the buildup to a second world war, Kitty’s husband Matt having served in the first one. There’s no talk of the goings on across the English Channel here, just total immersion in a mystery set among the high society of England at the time.

Millie Craven is a friend of Kitty and Matt’s. Her maid Dora’s sister has been missing for about a month. Millicent begs Kitty and Matt to accompany her to the estate where Agnes, her sister, works. The Markhams are about to celebrate the engagement of their son to a wealthy American heiress, an influx of cash being much-needed to continue supporting the estate and the family. They question the family and staff about the disappearance, while at the same time maintaining the story that they are there as security consultants.

The morning following the celebration, Kitty stumbles on Agnes’ body inside the family mausoleum. The police are brought in, including Kitty’s somewhat-nemesis, Inspector Lewis. As usual, he’s more annoyed than appreciative of Kitty’s presence. As they try to figure out who is responsible for Agnes’ murder, Matt needs to go to London to check on something for a mystery that’s been going on throughout several of the books.

I did enjoy Murder at the English Manor despite its predictability. In fact, I had the wrong suspect all along, which surprised me at the end. I was sure I knew who did it. Although the reasoning behind the murder was quickly evident, the identity of the murderer didn’t fall into place quite as easily.

The details of life for the Markhams are interesting. They are a family that has a long history, but changes in society are weighing heavily on them as they try to retain their social standing. Despite managing a number of tenants on the estate, there hasn’t been enough money to maintain the main house and pay employees for quite some time. The family feels like it’s a leap of faith that their son, Sebastian, will marry into a wealthy family and infuse money into the estate. The family is hard to like as the parents don’t seem to think much about the missing maid. Too often, they treat her disappearance as an inconvenience rather than being concerned about her. This is quite different from the impression television shows such as Downton Abbey give about the relationship between the masters and servants. The two Markham boys were friendly enough with Aggie, as they called her, but the older residents treated her disappearance like a piece of furniture that went missing. Kitty and Matt spend a lot of time disapproving of how the elder Markhams act,

This is a nice cozy mystery that is a bit of escapism. I had to approach Murder at the English Manor with the right attitude. It’s historical fiction in its setting only, as very little of what was going on outside of their corner of the world seeps into their lives. Still, I enjoyed reading this for the most part. After a number of deeper books, a light cozy mystery was just what I needed.

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