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Cecily Sinclair Baxter and her husband receive a letter at the last minute from the owner of the Pennyfoot Country Club, asking them to serve as mangers during the Christmas season. Edward the owner must go out of the country, and he can trust the club to Cecily, due to her previous experience in running this establishment as a hotel for nearly a dozen years before selling it to Edward. Of course, the ever-optimistic Cecily can't wait to be at the helm again, even though it's a stuffy old gentlemen's club now. Her husband, Hugh, is more pessimistic when he learns that that previous manager has met a strange end, but he feels pressured to go along with his wife's eagerness, and it is the Christmas season after all. Knowing Cecily's penchant for uncovering crimes and then going out on a limb to solve them, he forces a promise from her not to take on any dangerous assignments. (Foolish man.) When Cecily decides to invite the former servant staff to join her as her guests as the place contains only four stuffy old barristers ("benchers") and their wives, Hugh thinks she will have enough to keep her busy whilst he attends to the accounts. Naturally, all is not festive repartee or planning elaborate menus, as Cecily keeps thinking about the death of the former manager, who fell down a well. She can't resist and starts asking around for clues and steps on the toes of one or two of the uppercrust wives in the process. When one of the kitchen maids is found murdered, after being suspected of stealing some pearls belonging to the unflappable housekeeper, Mrs. Bunkle (with the knitting needle always stuck in her hair do) the police are called in. They gloss over the crime, figuring that any maid who would steal valuable pearls must be hanging around with the dregs of the earth, and merely got what was coming to her. Cecily is livid! However, when one of the four ³benchers² is killed, it shakes up the upper crust and even the police have to open both eyes and take a look. During all of this, we have Cecily taking silly chances to follow up a hunch or two, and Hugh playing the Master Husband who thinks he can order his wife to stop this nonsense. They do have a terrible row, and we see their true characters and wonder if the marriage is doomed. Nevertheless, despite Cecily's rather impetuous investigation tactics and her determination to do what she thinks is right and to blazes with a domineering husband, the culprit is soon trapped and the crime solved. Fans of the long-running Pennyfoot Hotel series will probably enjoy this 'old home week' episode in the series. Most of the previous characters are brought back to their old venue in their old form, but a newcomer to this series might want to read a previous Pennyfoot mystery or two in the series to get a better picture of the characters involved. Certainly, the author tries to balance assuming her readers will know all the staff and having to paint a new picture for new readers. However, with a little patience, and just joining in for the fun of the place, the newcomer to the series can enjoy the atmosphere, marvel at looking for clues with Cecily, and perhaps enjoy the festive atmosphere during their stay at the Pennyfoot Country Club. The reunion of characters and crime gives rise to suspicion that we have not seen the last of the Pennyfoot brigade!
Reviewed by Tess Allegra, January 2004
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