The Wages of Sin, Paperback/Judith Cutler

A promising series debut with engaging characters, social commentary, and a Victorian twist on the ever popular upstairs-downstairs storyline First in a brand-new Victorian mystery series featuring steward Matthew Rowsley and housekeeper Mrs Faulkner as an engaging detective duo. Newly appointed as land agent to the youthful Lord Croft, Matthew Rowsley finds plenty to keep him busy as he attends to his lordship's neglected country estate. But he's distracted from his tasks by the disappearance of a young housemaid. Has Maggie really eloped with a young man, as her mother seems to think - or is the truth rather more sinister? What's been going on behind the scenes at the grand country estate ... and where has his lordship disappeared to? Teaming up with housekeeper Mrs Faulkner to get to the bottom of the matter, Matthew uncovers a number of disturbing secrets, scandals and simmering tensions within the household. Something rotten is going on at Thorncroft - and it's up to Matthew and Mrs Faulkner to unearth the truth.