Publication Date: February 13, 2024
“A must read for any mystery lover.” – DEANNA RAYBOURN, New York Times bestselling author of KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE
An abandoned English manor. A peculiar missing portrait. A cozy, deviously clever murder mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.
Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism.
After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history.
With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…
Inheriting a beautiful manor in the English countryside should have been a dream come true for Jo Jones. But when that manor comes with a failing roof, overgrown gardens, and thousands of dollars in back taxes, it goes from a dream to a nightmare. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, right after firing her sleazy groundskeeper, Jo finds him dead in her guest house. In The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace, Jo is suspect number one in a murder investigation, all the while she tries to solve her own mystery uncovered in her family home.
Jo Jones comes to Abington, England, after learning she inherited a manor after her mother’s death. Still recovering from the loss and a recent divorce, Jo jumps into repairs of the dilapidated manor. Searching the manor for any hidden treasures, Jo finds a painting hidden away in a locked room. The eyes of the painting haunt her, and she becomes intent on discovering the subject of the painting. However, before she can uncover more, the painting is gone, and her groundskeeper is her number one suspect. After firing her groundskeeper, Sid, and being confronted by him in a local pub, Jo can’t wait to move into the one habitable place on the grounds, the guesthouse. What greets her is Sid’s body and his set of keys missing.
Enter DI James MacAdams with the local police force. While MacAdams investigates the murder, Jo is compelled to discover more about the painting she found. But as more answers unfold with the painting, the murderer comes closer and closer to home.
I cannot say enough good things about this book. I have been scratching my head for anything constructive to say, and I have nothing! I absolutely loved the characters. Jo’s autism added a human element to her character and helped me understand how others with autism may think and act. It didn’t make her strange or “quirky.” It was a layer to her and highlighted her. I enjoyed that this book had two perspectives—Jo’s and DI MacAdams’s. It gave you a front-row seat to the investigation but also brought a little bit of history with Jo’s investigation into the painting. All of the characters were so real, and no one felt like a caricature, as can happen in some mysteries. The only thing that could be a negative about this book is if it doesn’t become a series!
With mysteries of the present and past being solved, The Framed Women of Ardemore House is a perfect marriage of mystery and history. Now, tell me when the next book is coming out so I can revisit these lovely characters and add this book to my favorite series! 
BRANDY SCHILLACE is the author of several works of nonfiction, including Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher. She is the creator of Peculiar Book Club, a twice-monthly live-streamed YouTube show. A former professor of English and gothic literature, she writes about gender politics and history, medical mystery, and neurodiversity for outlets such as Scientific American, Wired, CrimeReads, and Medium. She is also autistic, though has not (to her knowledge) been a suspect in a murder investigation.
