Jane, Cassandra, and their mother, Mrs. Austen, are visiting their old country parsonage where Jane's brother, James, is now residing. They visit the Chute family at their estate for the Christmas festivities, but a military messenger is found dead, thrown from his horse. Jane thinks it must be murder, and one of the other guests, an artist, agrees with her.

The best part of this story is learning about the Regency Christmas traditions, games, food, parties, and other family habits at Christmastime!

I really liked this story and the history behind it. There is quite a lot of real history woven into the story with Jane's family and her acquaintances, but of course the murder mystery and Jane's involvement in the investigation are entirely fictional.

I enjoyed seeing more of Jane's brother, James, and their sibling relationship, as well as James' wife, Mary. Apparently, they did not have very pleasant personalities, but they make the effort to be together for Christmas. It's really interesting to imagine what their family might have been like, how they might have talked with one another, and how they would have interacted. I especially liked the scenes with Jane and her sister Cassandra.

The murder mystery itself is good. I kind of guessed part of the ending, so it wasn't as good as some of the other mysteries in this series.

I love the formal writing style that mimics the Regency era language. The dialogue is fairly close to what a real conversation might have been like in that time period. It really immerses you in the history.