Enter Pale Death

British award-winning author Barbara Cleverly is best known for her series of mystery novels based on protagonist Joe Sandilands, a WWWI hero and Scotland Yards detective, and set in the time between the wars. When Lady Lavinia Truelove is trampled by an out of control horse, the verdict is death by misadventure, but Joe--tipped off by an anonymous letter-- suspects foul play. He is somewhat biased in that the widower, Sir James Truelove, is slated to be the next Home Secretary, i.e., Joe's new uber-boss, and is also the patron of the woman Joe wants to marry, Dorcas Joliffe. Because of the high political stakes, Joe investigates off the books and encounters a web of upstairs-downstairs intrigues and a long-ago death that may have repercussions for the present. In the process, Joe gains a new understanding of his relationship with Dorcas. A brief review from Publishers Weekly is here.