Published in 2025, the tenth Cleopatra Fox mystery is available on Amazon in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and audiobook.

In September 1900, London high society retreats to the country. Cleo and her family accept an invitation from Lord and Lady Kershaw for a weekend at their family’s neo-Gothic manor, Hambledon Hall, for a shooting party. The genteel tranquility ends when the gamekeeper is shot in the driveway. Cleo arrives second on the scene and suspects foul play. She is certain the gamekeeper’s death is no accident. Now, how to prove it?

Back in London, Uncle Ronald asks Cleo to prove his friend and family are innocent in the gamekeeper’s death and approves her discreet investigation. Cleo makes no promises about his friend’s innocence but assures him of discretion. At the hotel, things are tense. Mrs. Short, the housekeeper, has implemented a new non-fraternization rule, so couples on staff can no longer be together or risk dismissal. Uncle Ronald does not want to overstep on staff issues and agrees with the rule, but only until it causes problems that could lead to a strike. Then he asks Cleo to persuade Harry to return to work at the hotel, showing he has warmed to Harry. However, Uncle Ronald remains unaware of the romantic undercurrents between Harry and Cleo and believes Harry is courting someone else.

Cleo and Harry investigate the murder, unearthing decades-old secrets and scandals for the Kershaw family. But do these secrets matter today, and are they why the gamekeeper is dead? Cleo and her cousin endure Aunt Lilian’s ongoing addiction to her tonic containing cocaine. Archer’s description of how easily prescribed and available cocaine was in that era, and how patients became addicted without support from the medical community, leaving families to care for them as best they could, is spot on. After a harsh exchange with her aunt, Cleo cannot contain herself and runs out of the hotel in the middle of the night to the one person who always makes her feel safe: Harry. This turn in the story is the pivotal point in their relationship, when the pair must decide whether to act on their feelings or end their friendship. The heated kiss answers all readers’ questions and ends the tug-of-war between the two sleuths.

The book offers an unsatisfactory ending to the murder mystery but a great leap forward in Cleo and Harry’s relationship. Archer keeps a layer of secrecy when Cleo tells Harry they must keep their relationship secret until she finds a diplomatic way to discuss it with her family. Since Archer is a fan of the slow burn, she might reveal the outcome of that conversation in ten books. The character development is what makes this a 3-star read.