Rubies Among the Roses Read online

  Welcome to Cornisea Island, where you can spend your summer holidays in a Cornish Castle.

  Guinevere Evans has a dream summer job: cataloguing books at a castle on a tidal island off the coast of Cornwall. With her perky dachshund Dolly by her side she explores the island’s colourful history, tries fabulous local food and sees the gorgeous sunsets.

  But when an old friend of her employer drops in, claiming a rare bejewelled wedding goblet is hidden in the castle gardens, strange events start to take place: several people turn up claiming they have a right to the elusive goblet, and a dead body is found on the beach.

  An unfortunate accident, or does this death relate to the struggle for ownership of the goblet? Is there even a goblet?

  Guinevere and Dolly dig in and discover plenty of motives to lie, steal and yes, maybe even kill. Can they prove what really happened to the victim and what became of the precious rubies that are at the heart of the mystery?

  Praise for VIVIAN CONROY

  ‘This book is a cross between Downton Abbey and Miss Marple … Perfect for the long winter nights ahead where comfort becomes a key word in everyone’s vocabulary.’

  Katherine (Goodreads), A Proposal to Die For

  ‘A Proposal to Die For is wonderfully smooth and glamorous, in the style of Agatha Christie combined with the beauty of Gatsby.’

  The Storycollector Blog

  ‘When it’s as charming as A Proposal to Die For mystery and history make the most wonderful combination.’

  Little Bookness Lane

  ‘Dead to Begin With is a charming, entertaining and absorbing cozy mystery and a great start to a new series.’

  Mystereity Reviews

  ‘Dead to Begin With by Vivian Conroy is a wonderful story, perfect for fans of Murder, She Wrote, and I cannot wait for the next in the series!!’

  Books of All Kinds

  ‘What a cosy story featuring a cozy murder, and some cute dogs!’

  Rachel’s Random Reads, Dead to Begin With

  Available from Vivian Conroy

  A Country Gift Shop Mystery series

  Dead to Begin with

  Grand Prize: Murder!

  Written into the Grave

  A Lady Alkmene Callender Mystery series

  A Proposal to Die For

  Diamonds of Death

  Deadly Treasures

  Coming Soon:

  Fatal Masquerade

  Cornish Castle Mystery series

  Death Plays a Part

  Rubies in the Roses

  Rubies in the Roses

  Vivian Conroy

  Contents

  Cover

  Blurb

  Praise

  Book List

  Title Page

  Author Bio

  Acknowledgements

  Author’s Note

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Excerpt

  Endpages

  Copyright

  VIVIAN CONROY

  discovered Agatha Christie at thirteen and quickly devoured all the Poirot and Miss Marple stories. Over time Lord Peter Wimsey and Brother Cadfael joined her favourite sleuths. Even more fun than reading was thinking up her own missing heirs and priceless artefacts. Discover the glamour and secrets of the roaring Twenties in Vivian’s Lady Alkmene Callender Mysteries and open up shop, with murder in the mix, in the contemporary Country Gift Shop Mysteries. Also contemporary, but set at a location full of history and folklore, are the Cornish Castle Mysteries, in which a London costume designer and her perky dachshund take a summer job at a castle on a tidal island off the coast of Cornwall. For news on the latest releases, with a dash of dogs and chocolate, follow Vivian on Twitter via @VivWrites

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to all editors, agents, and authors who share insights into the writing and publishing process.

  Thanks to my wonderful editor Hannah Smith and the entire HQ team, especially cover design for giving Dolly a starring role in the gorgeous cover.

  A special thanks to all my readers who’ve expressed their love of this new series:

  May you enjoy your return to Cornisea Island and all its quirky human and canine inhabitants!

  Author’s Note

  Although inspired by real-life tidal islands like St Michael’s Mount and its French counterpart, and by many fascinating sources of Cornish history, archaeology, folklore, flora and fauna, cuisine etc., Cornisea Island and its castle with ruling family is a fictional world. Its layout, businesses and societies, special constable and deadly legends of patron saints and precious artefacts are all the fruits of my imagination.

  Chapter One

  ‘Did we already catalogue this stack or didn’t we?’ Guinevere Evans scrunched up her face, studying the faded titles on the leather bands. The pile of books was on the floor, leaning against the leg of an old oak table. She sat beside it on her haunches, trying to remember whether she had held these books in her hands before the weekend.

  Her perky dachshund Dolly came to stand by her side and touched the books one by one with her long nose as if to help her decide.

  Somewhere over their heads a baritone voice said, ‘We can always do them again. New week, new try.’

  Guinevere shook her head to herself. She liked order and consistency; but her employer – Lord Bolingbrooke, master of Cornisea Castle and owner of far too many books that needed cataloguing – liked to tackle the task in his very own way. He took a book down from a shelf, started to leaf through it, found some interesting passage, sank in a chair reading, or unearthed a scruffy notebook and took notes in his illegible spidery handwriting.

  What the notes were for Guinevere didn’t know, except that Bolingbrooke planned to write a magnum opus about the castle’s history and he was collecting titbits to work into it.

  Had been for many years.

  ‘Why don’t you put all of those books on the table here and we’ll have a look at them?’ Bolingbrooke suggested cheerfully. His unruly grey hair stood up from raking his fingers through it, and he had rolled up the sleeves of his crumpled blue shirt. He rubbed his hands together as if he couldn’t wait to dig in.

  Guinevere shook her head. ‘We’ve already catalogued all the books on the table and I don’t want them to get confused with books that haven’t been done yet.’

  Bolingbrooke cleared his throat.

  Guinevere rose to her feet. She eyed the elderly gentleman with a suspicious look. He tried to avoid her gaze.

  Dolly squeaked as if she wanted to say ‘oh, no!’

  Guinevere looked at the table. Were there actually other books there that she didn’t remember? With a frown she picked up a volume with a bright blue cloth cover. ‘Sea monsters off the Cornish coast,’ she read aloud. ‘I haven’t seen this before the weekend.’

  ‘That might be because I took down some new books this morning.’ Bolingbrooke’s voice was soft as always when he was making an unwelcome statement. He took his time removing an imaginary speck of dust off his light grey trousers. ‘I was up early and saw some very interesting volumes on the top shelf. I put them over there.’ Bolingbrooke broadly indicated half the table’s length.

  Guinevere e
xhaled slowly. ‘So we can start over?’

  ‘Well, I don’t want to say “start over”. That would be so negative. We did do a lot already.’

  Guinevere shook her head while her eyes travelled across all the books. This way they’d be working until Christmas and still wouldn’t have covered even a fraction of what Bolingbrooke owned. Not just here in his library but also in other rooms of the castle where books sat on shelves, in trunks, or on the floor.

  ‘Hey, what’s that?’ Guinevere reached for a small volume with faded lettering on the leather binding. ‘A Cornish Treasure Island?’

  Dolly yapped excitedly as she stood on her hind legs with her front legs against a chair to see better.

  Guinevere opened the book and studied the map in the front, which depicted Cornisea marked up with various signs. Off the shore there was supposed to be a sunken pirate ship. On the island itself there was a note marking the whereabouts of a crown worn by one of the unhappy wives of Henry VIII and another note indicating the location of a chest full of gold coins taken from a rich merchant in a highway attack. She whistled. ‘If this is correct, it would be worthwhile to go around with a metal detector.’

  ‘Lots before you tried.’ Bolingbrooke shrugged. ‘Cornisea’s colourful history has always inspired people to make it the site of some adventure tale or rare object. If you study that book better, you’d learn that the sources for those markings are obscure historians or alleged world travellers like Marco Polo. Whether they ever really set foot here, or wrote up their tales from their comfortable beds at home, is completely unclear. But as long as it involves treasure, people believe it. I thought that if Oliver and you are serious about promoting the castle, you should have a look at it. Even if the actual objects aren’t here, the connections with Henry VIII or other royals might prove to be an attraction.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so.’ Guinevere kept her eyes on the volume in her hands, not quite sure what to think of Bolingbrooke’s sudden proposition. Was he being ironic, because he didn’t really believe in the castle’s potential as a tourist attraction?

  Or was he rather afraid that their scheme would prove to be so successful that his peace and quiet would be gone for ever?

  A bell resounded from downstairs.

  Bolingbrooke’s dogs Rufus and Nero sat up in front of the fireplace where they had been snoozing and started to bark. Their deep voices formed a threatening welcoming chorus for the unexpected visitor. People were usually a little taken aback when they realized a mastiff and a Great Dane guarded this ancient keep.

  Dolly was the nice little girl in the company, being able to work her way just as easily into people’s hearts as she wormed herself into the castle’s every nook and cranny. But Guinevere knew she was really the boss over the bigger dogs who followed her lead on walks.

  ‘What’s that?’ Bolingbrooke bellowed. ‘Strangers at the gate? Are you expecting someone, Guinevere?’

  ‘No, not that I know of.’ A strange excitement coursed through her that it might be one of her friends from the theatre in London. She had worked there as costume designer before she had come here to Cornisea, for the summer only, as the theatre needed renovations and the cast had been forced to leave behind the place they thought of as home.

  ‘I’ll have a peek.’ Bolingbrooke hushed the dogs and left the room.

  He didn’t have to open the front door himself, because he had a butler for that, a taciturn type named Cador, who could give Guinevere a start when he suddenly came upon her, moving through the castle noiselessly on his rubber soles. He seemed to be everywhere and see everything with his sharp blue eyes. Cador was supposed to politely dismiss unwanted visitors so Bolingbrooke didn’t have to deal with them. His lordship then hid in the landing waiting until the danger was averted.

  Grinning to herself, Guinevere walked to the door, still holding the book about treasures in her hand. She could hear Bolingbrooke’s careful footfalls across the creaking floorboards to the head of the stairs. There he seemed to wait, peeking down into the hallway to discern who was calling on him. Soon he’d come galloping back to her and hide in his library, throwing the door shut and claiming he wasn’t at home. There were many people Bolingbrooke didn’t care to see when they came to ask about the castle’s future, about unpaid bills or about donations for charitable projects.

  But now she heard a delighted cry, ‘Gregory! Old man.’ And Bolingbrooke’s heavy footfalls beat down the stairs.

  Dolly beside Guinevere made a surprised sound. Guinevere said to her, ‘Yes, girl, apparently it’s someone Lord B. does want to see. Let’s have a look for ourselves who it is then.’

  She snapped her fingers to tell Dolly to walk by her side instead of rushing ahead, and then she tiptoed to the stairs to look down into the hallway below. If it was an old friend of Bolingbrooke’s, she didn’t want to disturb their reunion.

  A short rotund man stood in the middle of the hallway. He had apparently dropped two suitcases to the floor as they stood on either side of him. Bolingbrooke smacked his large hand down on the visitor’s shoulder hard enough to send the short man tottering on his feet.

  But despite this rough welcome the visitor’s face was all smiles. ‘Is this a surprise or what?’

  ‘Indeed.’ Bolingbrooke grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. ‘How long has it been? Twenty years? Man, I wasn’t even sure you were still alive. No, that’s not true, I knew you were, because you wrote up those amusing articles.’

  ‘Amusing?’ his visitor repeated, his smiling features freezing. Even where Guinevere stood, she could sense indignation quivering through his posture.

  ‘Yes,’ Bolingbrooke continued unperturbed, laughing deep from his belly, ‘all those ideas about priceless artefacts that are hidden in old abbey ruins or remains of ancient keeps. You do know how to tell a tale.’

  ‘They’re not tales,’ his visitor said in a cold voice. ‘Those artefacts really exist.’

  Guinevere cringed at how Bolingbrooke was antagonizing his guest within minutes of reuniting with him.

  But Bolingbrooke didn’t seem to sense the hostile atmosphere and continued seriously, ‘How many have you uncovered?’ He leaned over to his guest as if he wanted to exchange confidentialities with him. ‘How many? Not one, hmmm?’

  His guest stood awkwardly, knotting his hands in front of him.

  Bolingbrooke said, ‘Look. I understand what you’re trying to do. People love stories about treasures and the mysterious circumstances under which they were buried or got lost. Some knight who won loot in an epic battle and then hid it where his enemies couldn’t find it and who devised a map with clues for his successors to recover it. Only nobody could make sense of his clues again. Until you came along of course.’

  His visitor’s round jovial face was tight with tension now. He spoke slowly and meticulously as if he was teaching a class. ‘My line of research is a very serious undertaking. The total value of artefacts that have gone missing through time runs in the billions of pounds. If only a few could be recovered, we would be looking at items that any museum in the world would be desperate to own.’

  Bolingbrooke waved a hand. ‘Yes, yes, of course. I believe you. You’re the expert in this field.’ He looked down on his visitor’s suitcases. ‘I say, you’ve just come back from travels?’

  ‘No, I’m here to stay with you.’

  Bolingbrooke blinked. ‘With me? At Cornisea Castle?’

  ‘Well, I could find a room with some fisherman at those houses near the harbour.’ The short man gestured behind him with a fleshy hand. ‘But I had hoped for your hospitality.’

  ‘Of course. There’s always room for you here. But why are you in the region? What legendary item can be hidden around here?’

  His visitor blinked at him in bewilderment at his ignorance. ‘The wedding goblet, of course.’

  ‘The what?’ Bolingbrooke asked.

  Guinevere came down two more steps, and the crea
king of a board made both men look up to her. Bolingbrooke waved at her to come all the way down. ‘Gregory, this is my new assistant Guinevere Evans. She’s helping me catalogue my book collection.’

  Guinevere walked over and held out her hand. ‘Pleased to meet you.’

  ‘Gregory Wadencourt. Historian.’

  Dolly circled Wadencourt’s feet and sniffed at his shoes and his suitcases. Her tail was trembling as if she detected exciting scents of the place where these well-worn travelling bags had been before. To be honest, Guinevere herself itched to know more about that. And about the alleged priceless artefacts the historian was hunting.

  Wadencourt spotted the book in her other hand and hmmm-ed. ‘I see you’re interested in treasures.’

  ‘Oh, it’s quite a coincidence I’m carrying this with me. We happened to start on a new pile of books this morning, and this was on top of it.’

  Wadencourt looked at Bolingbrooke. ‘A coincidence, hmmm?’

  Bolingbrooke looked down and fidgeted with his watch’s band.

  Guinevere studied him suspiciously. He had just seen some interesting books on the top shelf and taken them down, right? On the very morning his old friend, a treasure hunter, ended up here for a visit!

  Wadencourt said, ‘Well, I can’t blame you for looking into it. I mean, you must realize what will happen now? As soon as the word gets out, people will be flocking here to look for it. Your island will be under siege.’

  ‘My island under siege?’ Bolingbrooke repeated. ‘Why?’

  Wadencourt surveyed him. ‘You mean, you don’t know anything about it? I thought that man had been here.’

  ‘What man?’ Bolingbrooke asked, glancing at Guinevere.

  She shrugged to indicate she didn’t know either.

  Wadencourt gestured with both hands. ‘The gardening expert of course. Vex. The one who wrote the article.’

  ‘I don’t know any Vex. And what article?’

  ‘So Vex hasn’t been here.’ Wadencourt rubbed his chin and peered at Bolingbrooke as if trying to make sense of a conundrum. ‘Or at least he didn’t call on you during his visit. He must have walked about and investigated on his own. Took his photos to illustrate the article. After all, this island is freely accessible to the public. Anyone traipsing down that causeway at low tide can reach it and skulk about. Regrettable really. I wonder …’