Preview - The Butler by Clare Mackintosh
The Butler
Clare Mackintosh
Copyright 2026
199 Pages
If you’ve ever wished Agatha Christie would take a sun‑soaked detour to Cannes, sip something bubbly, and say, “You know what, let’s be a little unhinged today,” welcome to The Butler.
At the center of this Riviera‑bright whodunnit is Baxter—a butler so flawlessly trained he could fold a fitted sheet, solve a murder, and still have time to iron your alibi. He arrives at Villa Sérénité, a glamorous French estate that is serene in name only, tasked with orchestrating a birthday celebration for the wealthy, combustible Prescott family. Within seconds, Baxter senses what we all immediately clock: this isn’t a party, it’s a pressure cooker wearing couture.
There’s the ex‑wife, the much‑younger girlfriend, the Hollywood power couple, the heir with a startup, and enough pent‑up resentment to power the Cannes Film Festival’s lighting rig. And Baxter—ever discreet, ever unruffled—glides through it all like a man who has witnessed every flavor of rich‑people chaos and refuses to let any of it wrinkle his tie.
Then a body turns up in the villa’s glittering pool.
Suddenly, the man whose entire job hinges on “see everything, say nothing” has to decide whether silence is still part of the uniform.
Enter Red, a sharp‑eyed young pickpocket Baxter meets in town—an unexpected ally who brings a dash of delightful disorder to his polished calm. Their odd‑couple partnership gives the story its spark: the refined butler and the scrappy street kid quietly teaming up while the wealthy guests unravel like a badly hemmed ballgown.
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