With exhaustion catching up with them following the events on Narrethea and LP10 (see The Dreams and The Death), Sebastian recommends that he and Rebecca should take a vacation.  He has a collection of unused invites and tickets from his years of travelling.  To contrast recent days, they select something that neither of them have experienced before.

Meet the Etheridge family, just your typical dysfunctional family that has traumatic memories of the war.  Prentis Etheridge has worked hard on the preparation of planning the first “murder mystery weekend” of his home, Etheridge Hall.  Set in a large idyllic country house, he has a simple mystery planned for the weekend of his son’s birthday, but David has troubles of his own that invite a loan shark into his family.

Pretending to be people who they aren’t, Thomas Talbot-Buckingham III and Katie Camfield arrive at the Hall.  With no luggage.  Surrounded by a disconcerting atmosphere.  In the rain.

To be sure of staying out of trouble, they have a wager.  Sebastian agrees not to use technology, and Rebecca agrees not to use the Keepership, whilst they’re in the guise of Thomas and Katie.  This is supposed to be a rest, a holiday, after all.

They should not have made that wager.

The murder/mystery goes wrong.  The wrong person is dead.  And the maid sees ghosts.

Something isn’t right about David’s sister.  In the woods that form part of the Etheridge estate, Jo Etheridge has made the strangest of friends in the woods – giving her delusions of being something that she isn’t.

The woods are Jo’s sanctuary, and she wasn’t expecting to encounter a silver figure, and one that’s unlike any man she’s met before.  The silver man is hunting for something in the Hall, and he’s not happy when he discovers the presence of people who can travel through Time…

Murder! at Etheridge Hall is the prequel to The Three Deaths of Piper Gwyn.

The Keeper of Time is a continuing series of science fiction adventures with a hint of romance.
Some adult scenes may be inappropriate for young readers.