Red House

Jess, 31, single, a disaster area for relationships, and an aspiring private detective is now house sitting in the mansion of an Uzbeki billionaire through a concierge agency. She’s also temping on the administrative staff of an Oxford college as cover for a woman on maternity leave. To her great surprise, she’s asked to read the 6th lesson in a Christmas service that will be televised live on the BBC. The reverend is even more accident-prone than herself. So, what can possibly go wrong?
A gardener working for a concierge service finds a body buried under the mulch around a holly tree. The house belongs to a Russian oligarch who’s a personal friend of the president and at first, DI Leo George from Thames Valley CID fears for possible political implications. The victim appears to be the house owner but how can he be missing for over a year without anyone raising alarm, not his own family, not his business partners?
Guess whose dog wanders into the garden? Yup, Jess and Leo are being reunited again. Their mutual attraction is bigger than ever but Jess struggles with her past that she feels must be disclosed before they go any further.

This is the 3rd book in this series but can be read as a standalone. There are references to things that occurred in the previous books, but where necessary things are adequately explained. Of course, it’s better to read a series in order but you can follow what’s happening in this book without any problems.
As in the previous books, there are a few funny one-liners scattered around the book that will raise a smile here and there. But it’s not a comedy.
“9 Lessons and Carol Service” is something that I hadn’t heard of before and I had to google it. I assumed that it was something like a nativity play that I saw in Anglican churches when I lived in England, but it turns out to be a totally different tradition. As we don’t have something similar in Catholic churches, I might be forgiven. For more info:
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Le…
Leo has big problems with his most unwelcome and very non-maternal mother that turned up on his doorstep at the end of the previous story. He wants her gone as she messed up his youth and continues to do so, even now. She’s lucky that he’s such a gentle person, for she’s the kind of person, one would strangle without remorse or guilt.
Something that I noticed in this book is the different attitude to race and colour between the US and UK. American ones will say African-American each and every time, while here British people are just people, regardless of their colour or ancestral origins. It’ says somewhere in this book: “The head wrap of the woman suggests that she’s rather of West-African than of Caribbean decent.” It would be seen as bad taste and even insulting to call someone an African-Belgian or African-Englishman, as it implies that they’re not full citizens. On top of that not, all dark-skinned people are of African heritage.
I thought that I had everything figured out more or less by chapter 34 (about the same time as Jess) but that was a twist too soon. This was an engaging and enjoyable read. The characters are well known by now, so the author can concentrate her best on the story development that fits nicely together. These characters aren’t always likeable but very well described. The narcissistic mother is so obnoxious and intolerable that only a saint would not strangle her.
I thank NetGalley and Harper Collins, One More Chapter for the free ARC they provided me with, this is my unbiased and honest review.