Cold-Blooded Myrtle - a Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery #3

Christmas is almost arrived at Swinburne in this third Myrtle Hardcastle mystery.  After solving the murder of her neighbor and the murder at a seaside resort, one would think that twelve-year old Myrtle Hardcastle deserves a break - but as we all know, mystery never takes a vacation, especially for young sleuths like Myrtle!  Author Elizabeth C. Bunce returns with probably her best murder mystery yet!  And while it took me a bit to get into this book (I guess it's been too long since I read the second mystery, so other than her governess, Miss Judson, I had a difficult time re-acquainting myself with the rest of Myrtle's supporting cast - I suppose that's a price one pays for reading as many different on-going series as I do!), once I got a few chapters in, I was thoroughly hooked!

Cold-Blooded Myrtle is set right at Christmas time, as the villagers in Swinburne are gearing up for a snowy, freezing holiday.  There's quite a bit going on - the unveiling of Leighton Mercantile's window display for the season ... the opening of the new display at the local museum, showcasing items (coincidentally enough) donated by Professor Leighton ... and the ever-difficult hunt for the perfect Christmas gift for one's family and friends.  Myrtle is worried because Christmas is nearly there, and she has yet to find that hard-to-find gift for her governess.  But she needn't have worried - soon enough, another mystery falls right in their laps, and they are too busy trying to catch a killer to worry about the perfect gift!

Bunce crafts a wonderfully hard-to-figure-out mystery that stumps not only Myrtle and Miss Judson, but the reader as well.  Usually I am pretty good at figuring these things out fairly early on, but Bunce had be guessing on this one until very nearly the end!  It all starts when Leighton Mercantile pulls back its curtains on the amazing window display that Professor Leighton crafts each year - a perfect replica of the village, down to the citizens in the street.  Only this year, the display has an added surprise - a tiny replica of a well, painted black, with a twig of olives placed next to it.  But that's not the only surprise - because once inside the store, Myrtle and Miss Judson, alongside Mrs. Leighton, discover the dead body of Professor Leighton, resting in a chair, a cup of tea by his side and a note in his hand.  For all intent and purposes, it seems Professor Leighton had a stroke, which is what the arriving doctor immediately assumes.  But Myrtle has questions, especially after she finds a photograph of Professor Leighton lying near the scene - an old photo that shows Professor Leighton with some of his students, one of whom happens to be Myrtle's very own mother!

Myrtle's father, of course, is none too happy to find his daughter at the scene of yet another dead body, but since this appears natural, he is not too worried.  Until the attending physician reveals Professor Leighton to have been poisoned - and that he had traces of chloroform around his mouth, which meant someone had murdered the kindly old man.  But why?  Who could possibly have a grudge against a former college professor and owner of the local mercantile?  Well, when Myrtle describes the display in Leighton's window to her father, she discovers the mystery hits a lot closer to home than she could have ever realized - because when she describes the display, her father's first question is, "What color was the well?"  When she tells him it was painted black, he surprises her with an unexpected response.  "Olive, black well ... Olive Blackwell?  What would he put that on display?" (p. 23).  And so begins Myrtle's search for a solution to not only the current mystery, but also the mystery of whatever really happened to one of her mother's college friends - one Olive Blackwell.  The story goes that she fell from the top of the campanile (old bell tower), but her body was never discovered, and no one quite knows what happened.  But as Myrtle soon discovers, someone might know - several someones, in fact, all of whom live in Swinburne and all of whom are familiar to Myrtle.  Myrtle's mother, who died of cancer.  Professor Leighton, who is now dead.  The newly elected Mayor of Swinburne, the father of Myrtle's nemesis, LaRue Spence-Hastings.  Dr. Munjal, the father of Myrtle's friend, Caroline.  and Nora Carmichael, an archaeologist, and her brother David.  But it seems David is also dead, having died while mountain climbing some time ago.  So that only leaves three.  Three people who seem awfully desperate to keep a secret from years ago.  Is one of them the killer?

Oh, and let's not forget Imogen Shelley, the nosy reporter for the loan newspaper who seems to be right in the middle of things, sensationalizing everything she writes about the case.  It turns out, however, that she has a connection with one Mr. Blakeney, a solicitor-in-training who Myrtle previously met in her prior adventures.  And it also turns out that Ms. Shelley has had an unhealthy obsession with the Olive Blackwell case for some time - but is it one that would drive her to murder?

Myrtle and Miss Judson (and, oh yes, Peony, too) have a very difficult time sifting through the clues and the suspects to figure out whodunnit - and when a second body turns up, they realize the clock is ticking, because the window display was changed just before the second murder.  So, when the display is changed again, it's only a matter of time before the third murder occurs!  Bunce writes plenty of suspense, danger, and surprises in this one, and I willingly admit I could not for the life of me figure this one out until almost the end - and when the revelation comes, it suddenly all makes perfect sense.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I would SO recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a great murder mystery.  Bunce writes a wonderful mystery, full of fantastic characters, and provides a more than satisfying read in each and every book.  Definitely looking forward to the next one!

RATING:  10 engraved miner's helmets out of 10 for murder, mayhem, and mystery at Christmas time that is well worth reading!