LemonSky reviewed Murder in Stained Glass by Margaret Armstrong
Review of 'Murder in Stained Glass' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Miss Trumbull, a well off spinster, goes to visit Charlotte, an old schoolfriend, and gets caught up in a lot more than she expected. There's a quote at the beginning of the book that reminds me of the premise in [b:Towards Zero|9899381|Towards Zero (Superintendent Battle, #5)|Agatha Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348017915s/9899381.jpg|2860210] by [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg]:
"It’s like the nursery rhyme about the old woman who milked the cow with the crumpled horn. If the weather hadn’t cleared I wouldn’t have gone to stay with Charlotte Blair; I shouldn’t have been on hand with my eyes wide open when things began to happen; I shouldn’t have been forced to play the part of innocent bystander – a dangerous part when bullets are flying about; and as I should have known nothing about the case, except what I read in the newspapers, I couldn’t have been of the smallest use to anybody concerned. But I did …
Miss Trumbull, a well off spinster, goes to visit Charlotte, an old schoolfriend, and gets caught up in a lot more than she expected. There's a quote at the beginning of the book that reminds me of the premise in [b:Towards Zero|9899381|Towards Zero (Superintendent Battle, #5)|Agatha Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348017915s/9899381.jpg|2860210] by [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg]:
"It’s like the nursery rhyme about the old woman who milked the cow with the crumpled horn. If the weather hadn’t cleared I wouldn’t have gone to stay with Charlotte Blair; I shouldn’t have been on hand with my eyes wide open when things began to happen; I shouldn’t have been forced to play the part of innocent bystander – a dangerous part when bullets are flying about; and as I should have known nothing about the case, except what I read in the newspapers, I couldn’t have been of the smallest use to anybody concerned. But I did go. I saw what no one else saw. Or, rather, I saw it sooner."
Near Charlotte's home is the Ullathorne glass shop, which is where the legendary glass artist Frederick Ullathorne crafts his glass masterpieces. Passionate and temperamental, Ullathorne is a difficult man to get along with and has earned his share of enemies. One day he vanishes - and bones are found in the kiln. At first, one of Ullathorne's dissatisfied employees is implicated, but then suspicion falls on Ullathorne's son Leo. Miss Trumbull is determined to find who is really responsible and launches his own investigation.
Margaret Armstrong is one of those writers who really should be better known. She is good at crafting an interesting, amusing, and rather humorous mystery with enough red herrings to keep me at least from figuring out who did it. I was very surprised by who the murderer was. I really wasn't expecting that.