Heirs and Assigns: A new British country house murder mystery series by Marjorie Eccles

Pen's 60th birthday is coming up but he has a family dinner ahead of that celebration so he can tell them he is planning to marry again.  Not everyone is surprised but the majority of them are.  And the majority that are thought they'd be inheriting from Pen.  When Pen is found dead in bed in the morning, everyone thinks it was his heart.  No, it was murder...

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 1st.  

The police find that while it's a little town, gossip spreads fast.  The most viable suspects are those who are in the will.  That included almost everyone at the dinner.  Some are more desperate than others but were they willing to kill for the money?

If that wasn't enough to keep them busy, they suddenly have another death.  It's the bookseller in town.  He sold collectible books to Pen.  He also wasn't Pen's killer.  So why would someone kill him?

Power and money and land ownership created tensions and fights within the family units.  There are also personal problems.  Trying to sort all this out is slow going for the police.  It's not until there is one final death that they cotton to the cause of the trouble.

This was one that kept me in the dark as well as the police.  I wouldn't have guessed this ending.  I liked how Ms. Eccles tied up the pieces and even got two people who should be together finally there.  This was a satisfying read.