Few people can refer to a stately home as their ‘office,’ but that’s exactly what I get to do at Charleton House. It’s in this gorgeous 500-year-old palace-like building that I spend my working day as Head of Catering. I manage three cafés and look after the catering for the Duke and Duchess of Ravensbury, whose family history is intertwined with that of the monarchy.

In a place like this, especially when it’s open to the public, there’s no such thing as a typical day. But yesterday was a typically non-typical day so I’ll tell you about that. One thing is guaranteed though, my days always start the same way . . .

7:00: Wake to the dead weight of Pumpkin, my hefty tabby cat, lying on my chest staring at me. She’s in charge around here.

07:15: Once her majesty is fed I start the process of filling my veins with caffeine. Without it I’m a danger to others and myself. I have a breakfast of leftovers before a drive through the breathtaking Charleton Estate. Even in the grey mists of winter it’s beautiful. I pass a truck delivering the Christmas trees that will go on display around the house.

08:00: I make another coffee and grab a mince pie, not because I’m hungry but because it’s there: I have no will power. At this rate I’ll be as wide as I am tall, which isn’t too hard; my party trick is standing upright in the back of a black cab.

09:00: Meet the Events Team. We’re planning a sleepover for 60 members of the public in the spring. Last time we did this one of the guests was murdered so I guarantee it will sell out. People can be very macabre.

09:30: It’s pouring with rain and as I head back to my office I see a member of conservation staff battling with a leak in the ceiling. They are trying to protect a 450-year-old tapestry, so I get up a ladder and help pin a plastic sheet over it.

10:15: The fire alarm goes off and we have to evacuate the building. Our visitors are not happy; they have to stand in the rain while we check out the problem. It turns out a schoolboy had hit an alarm for a bet!

11:30: My friend Mark comes into the café looking rather soggy. Even the twirls of his moustache are dripping with rain. He’s a tour guide with a brain like a sponge and his historical knowledge has been essential in every murder case we’ve found ourselves caught up in. We catch up on some gossip.

12:00: The lunchtime rush is under way. I always make sure some of our menu is inspired by an aspect of Charleton’s history. We have Tudor style pies for sale today; visitors are loving them.

14:00: Joyce the gift shop manager makes her entrance. We’re not quite sure how old she is – Mark says she’s older than God. She must be nearing 70 but it’s hard to tell. She totters around on stilettos that give me vertigo just thinking about them and her nail polish can probably be seen from space. She and Mark bicker like children but they are really very fond of one another. DC Joe Greene drops round at the same time. I’m always plying him with free coffee and I can usually get a bit of information out of him. Joyce is annoyed that we haven’t become a couple. We danced around our attraction for one another for a while until I decided he was more like a brother. I’m largely happy with that decision, I think.

15:00: The Duchess phones. Can I cater a last minute luncheon for tomorrow? Her friend the local mayor is coming round.

15:30: Charles Dickens taps on my kitchen window. The live interpreter playing him would like a coffee but can’t come in the café in costume.

16:00: The café closes, it’s time for paperwork. I’m awful with numbers and often take the finance department cake to apologise for my errors.

19:00: I finally leave work and head to the Black Swan pub where Mark is waiting. Without having to be asked the landlord, Steve, pours me a gin and tonic. They have 70 different gins and I’m working my way through them. It’s a wonderful old pub with a roaring fire. Steve has started to put the Christmas decorations up and the beams have branches of evergreen strung along them. I place an order of fish and chips, I don’t feel like cooking tonight.

21:00: Pumpkin is waiting in the hallway when I get home and she’s not happy. I really must learn my place. I head to bed with a book about Queen Victoria’s favourite food. Christmas brings with it a lot of late nights at the house so I’m taking the opportunity for an early one. Pumpkin curls up on the pillow next to me, snoring. I seem to have been forgiven for my late arrival home.

Mulled Wine and Murder is the fifth book in the Charleton House Mysteries series, released November 20, 2020.

As December casts its chilly eye over Derbyshire towns bedecked in festive cheer, the skeletal remains of a forgotten man lie hidden in the cellar of the historic Black Swan pub.

The glow of a million fairy lights and the hauntingly familiar melodies of Christmas carols fill the vast halls of Charleton House, but when a group of volunteers fall ill after drinking mulled wine laced with poisonous berries, Catering Manager and part-time sleuth Sophie Lockwood wonders who’s failing to embrace the goodwill of the season. Despite DS Harnby warning her to leave the mystery of the mulled wine to the police, Sophie can’t resist making a few enquiries alongside her quest to piece together the tragic sequence of events that led to the century-old skeleton being abandoned in the pub cellar.

Then an anonymous gift of poisoned cookies is left on her desk, and her delve into the past threatens to uncover a secret that will shock her well-respected employers, the Duke and Duchess of Ravensbury, to the core. Has Sophie’s sleuthing finally gone too far?

Raise a glass of Christmas cheer as Sophie faces an unwelcome blast from the past, while her best friend Mark’s historical knowledge proves invaluable, and self-appointed sidekick Joyce makes her own unique and hilarious contribution. With these three around, this festive adventure can only come to a delightfully heart-warming close.

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Meet the author
After 25 years working in some of England’s finest buildings, Kate P. Adams has turned to murder.

Kate grew up in Derbyshire – England, the setting for the Charleton House Mysteries, and went on to work in theatres around the country, the Natural History Museum – London, the University of Oxford and Hampton Court Palace. Every day she explored darkened corridors and rooms full of history behind doors the public never get to enter. Kate spent years in these beautiful buildings listening to fantastic tales, wondering where the bodies were hidden, and hoping that she’d run into a ghost or two.

Kate has an unhealthy obsession with finding the perfect cup of coffee, enjoys a gin and tonic, and is managed by Pumpkin, a domineering tabby cat who is a little on the large side. Now that she lives in the USA, writing the Charleton House Mysteries allows Kate to go home to her beloved Derbyshire every day, in her head at least. Visit Kate’s website to learn more katepadams.com.

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Kate has generously offered to give a print copy to the reader who responds with the best comment about Christmas food or drink. Giveaway ends November 22, 2020 and is limited to U.S. residents. Good luck everyone!

All comments are welcomed.