The Scandal at Sutton Place by Beatrice Marlowe

Lady Eleanor Merritt has spent the last year mourning her husband in a cloud of black crepe, but when a guest at a Hampshire house party dies under suspicious circumstances, she is dispatched to Sutton Place to ensure the scandal remains a quiet 'accident.' What she finds is a drawing room full of suspects performing innocence with varying degrees of theatrical commitment. From the grieving widow to the suspiciously cheerful hostess, everyone has a motive, and everyone is lying. With Inspector Hale stuck in London and her own reputation hanging by a thread, Eleanor must navigate a minefield of social propriety and poisoned tea to uncover the truth before the next guest arrives. Because in a house of secrets, the only thing more dangerous than a murder is a scandal that ruins a marriage.