Hello! Today I’m very pleased to welcome you to JuliaPalooza for my stop on the Blog Tour for The Golden Hour by Malia Zaidi which is available now (links below).
About the book
London 1927
Lady Evelyn Carlisle has barely arrived in London when familial duty calls her away again. Her cousin Gemma is desperate for help with her ailing mother before her imminent wedding, which Evelyn knew nothing about! Aunt Agnes in tow, she journeys to Scotland, expecting to find Malmo Manor in turmoil. To her surprise, her Scottish family has been keeping far more secrets than the troubled state of their matriarch.
Adding to the tension in the house a neighbour has opened his home, Elderbrooke Park, as a retreat for artistic veterans of the Great War. This development does not sit well with everyone in the community. Is the suspicion towards the residents a catalyst for murder? A tragedy at Elderbrooke Park’s May Day celebration awakens Evelyn’s sleuthing instinct, which is strengthened when the story of another unsolved death emerges, connected to her own family. What she uncovers on her quest to expose the truth will change several lives forever, including her own.
With the shadow of history looming over her, Evelyn must trust in her instinct and ability to comb through the past to understand the present, before the murderer can stop her and tragedy strikes again.
Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US
The Golden Hour is a classic whodunnit murder mystery set in late 1920s London and rural Scotland. Despite its setting, and Malia Zaidi’s close attention to period detail, it has a smart, up-to-date feel and a confident, modern heroine in Lady Evelyn Carlisle.
Although The Golden Hour is the first of Malia Zaidi‘s Lady Evelyn Mysteries I have read, it is actually the fourth in the series. It is perfectly easy to read as a standalone though and there are no spoilers for earlier books so I will be able to go back and read them in due course. It is a series I have had my eye on for a while and I was not disappointed.
The story is extremely well-written and cleverly-plotted, and much more than the ‘fluffy’ cosy I was perhaps expecting from the cover and synopsis (not that I mind fluff!). The book is quite long and, whilst witty and frivolous in parts, is very descriptive and emotive, and even quite moving in places.
The set-up at Elderbrooke Park reminded me of Agatha Christie’s They Do It with Mirrors, and Lady Evelyn herself is a bit like a cross between Miss Marple and the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple from Carola Dunn’s series, but this is totally its own story. Its cast is full of dynamic, three-dimensional characters, each of whom is distinct and well-described, and the house, grounds and village are all vividly clear.
I was kept guessing by the plot and enjoyed the journey through the story – it is more than ‘just’ a simple mystery. I will definitely be going back to read the earlier books in this series as I would like to read more about Lady Evelyn.
A huge thank you to Malia Zaidi for my copy of the book and to Emma Welton for my spot on the Blog Tour.
If you enjoyed my review, please consider liking and/or sharing and, of course, buying the book: Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US
About the Author
Malia Zaidi is the author of the Lady Evelyn Mysteries. She studied at the University of Pittsburgh and at the University of Oxford. Having grown up in Germany, she currently lives in Washington DC, though through her love of reading, she resides vicariously (if temporarily) in countries around the world.
About the Blog Tour
Please check out the rest of the great bloggers on the tour for The Golden Hour!
juliapalooza.com 
Thanks so much, Julia x
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