Midnight At Maidenstone Hall by Alison Clare

 

Marsden Fisher has come to Maidenstone Hall under false pretenses.  He has been hired to tutor the nineteen year old daughter of the Earl and Countess of Scarborough but in reality he has come to find out the truth about the whereabouts of his lover, Simon.  Simon was reported to have been killed in action, but Marsden knows that Simon had never returned to the unit where they both served after a visit home.  Had the Earl used his influence to spirit him away somewhere when the war casualties got so high?  Was Simon hiding on the estate?  

But Marsden finds nothing but confusion and secrets at the Hall.  His charge, Alice, also has a twin sister, Beatrice.  Alice is shy and retiring, Beatrice is outgoing and flirty.  The servants scurry around scared of something.  The Countess is an alcoholic while the Earl is the pompous overbearing man Marsden expected.  Can Marsden find the truth?

This is a debut novel.  Alison Clare was born in Australia and lived around the world before settling in the United States.  The setting is the end of World War I which is one of my favorite time periods.  Marsden is an admirable character and the reader sees the prejudice against gay couples at the time and in fact, homosexuality was against the law.  The plot of twin sisters is given an interesting twist here with Alice and Beatrice enemies of each other.  The secrets of Maidenstone Hall are slowly revealed and no one is whom they seem.  This book is recommended for readers of mysteries.