June Book Club: Murder at Merivale Manor by Ella Strike
Murder at Merivale Manor (Kitty goring Investigates Book 1) by Ella Strike
June’s book club recommendation is a historical mystery.
If you’ve ever watched a dinner party go sideways, you understand the energy of this book. Except Kitty Goring’s party goes considerably more sideways than most.
The setup is genuinely fun: London, 1923, a manor house, and Kitty’s bright idea to stage a fake robbery for entertainment. Guests split into teams competing to steal her mother’s ruby necklace. Creative idea! What could go wrong?
A body in the woods, as it turns out.
Kitty is not the most likeable protagonist I’ve ever followed. She’s spoiled, self-centered, and makes some deeply questionable investigative choices, including announcing several different people as the murderer before landing on the right one. (To be fair, I had a hunch about the guilty party fairly early and also had no proof, so I’m not throwing stones.) Her mother is fixated entirely on the missing necklace and marrying her children into money. Her brother Jimmy gambles and has sketchy friends. Nobody in this family is winning any congeniality awards.
The person I rooted for the most was Detective Inspector Henry Burton, competent, professional, and endlessly patient in the face of Kitty’s one-woman investigation. Watching her insist on his incompetence while he quietly does actual police work is its own entertainment.
The 1920s setting is rich and well-done. If you like the later Downton Abbey movies, manor houses, and post-WWI English society you will like this too.
And then there’s Scottie. A scrappy little Scottish terrier named Scottie. I did not make that up. He should appear in every book. Kitty grew on me by the end, not enough that I’d let her plan my dinner party, but enough that I want to see what she does in book two.
Kelly Brakenhoff is the author of 17 books and a seasoned ASL interpreter. She splits her writing energy between two series: cozy mysteries set on a college campus and children’s books featuring Duke the Deaf Dog.
In 2025, two of her children’s books were selected for the CBC Favorites Award Lists, honored by teachers and librarians nationwide for excellence in children’s literature. Parents, kids, and educators love the Duke the Deaf Dog books and activity guides because they introduce ASL and the Deaf community through engaging stories.
And if you enjoy a smart female sleuth, want to learn more about Deaf culture, or have lived in a place where livestock outnumber people, the Cassandra Sato Mystery series will have you connecting the dots faster than a group project thrown together the night before it’s due.
A proud mom to four adults, head of the dog-snuggling department, and grandma to a growing brood of perfectly behaved grandkids, Kelly and her husband call Nebraska home.