Murder at Brambleford Manor (the agatha mysteries, #2)

She hid the invitation for a reason. Agatha, a tuxedo cat with a talent for sorting mail, an instinct for character, and very firm opinions about what should and should not be delivered, chose not to pass the invitation from Brambleford Manor along. When her owner, Violet Pennington, finally discovers it and accepts the invitation, she expects nothing more than a quiet weekend of literary company. Instead, she arrives to find a gathering that feels carefully arranged, and quietly dangerous. The host, Sir Edmund Hale, has invited exactly the sort of people one might write about... and ruin. A retired judge with a buried family secret. A celebrated author whose troubles run deeper than debt. A housekeeper whose loyalties seem to belong to the house itself. By Sunday, Sir Edmund is dead. The door is locked from the inside. The note, written in his own hand, claims he could not go on. Violet doesn‘t believe it. Not for a moment.