The Castleton Affair by Benedict Brown

stars

This book comes out May 15, 2024

A Marius Quin Mystery #3

Follows The Hurtwood Village Murder

ARC kindly provided by Storm Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to the Rectory by Catherine Lloyd

Sir Robert Kurland is somewhat astonished to hear that his aunt is pregnant. She's not exactly old but she has a grown child, Henrietta. True, Henrietta isn't very pleasant and her husband, Basil, is even worse. And, since she's married to his wife Lucy's father, it's not as though he wanted to think of them like... that. It's just unfortunate that Basil and Henrietta have decided to visit right as that announcement is made. And it's while any number of other family members are visiting for the baptism of Lucy and Robert's younger child. 

It's the odious Basil who ends up dead in the rectory study. Henrietta is quick to blame Lucy's father. Is it because she believes her accusation or because she knows that her mother has signed a will making the reverend her new beneficiary. 

There are any number of suspects as Northam was not only a blackmailer, he put together a Ponzi scheme that ruined any number of people who are in the immediate area.

As is usual in this series, there is a very convoluted ending but overall an enjoyable listen.

Three and a half stars

This book came out 

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #8

Follows Death Comes to the Nursery

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla
Opinions are my own

Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by C.J. Archer

Cleopatra "Cleo" Fox has been told her whole life that her mother's family was wealthy but that they had cut her and Cleo's father off from any of their wealth. But now her father's family is completely gone and she's been invited to live with her aunt and uncle, the Bainbridges, in her uncle's ancestral home which has been transformed into a hotel. She finds that the past might not be interpreted in the same way by her uncle and that the family is more welcoming than she expected. But all is not right at the hotel and a guest is murdered. Cleo, wanting to be helpful, immediately leaps in and tries to help. She doesn't wish to marry, nor does she want to live off her family's largesse so she is trying to learn skills to be able to support herself. Unfortunately, not everything she does in the course of the investigation helps everyone involved.

A little slow in places, I'm willing to give the series another shot at some point because it was a good mystery.

Three stars

This book came out December 1, 2020

Cleopatra Fox #1

Followed by Murder at the Piccadilly Playhouse

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to the Nursery by Catherine Lloyd

Finally, Lady Lucy and Sir Robert Kurland have their longed-for child. And he's about to have a sibling. Agnes is going to need some help in the nursery. She recommends her cousin, Polly. But, when she arrives, Polly is unexpectedly attractive. And there are soon fights over who will get to go walking with her. Unfortunately, that only leaves more suspects when Polly is found dead. And solving this murder becomes only more tangled when they discover that Polly... isn't actually Polly. So who was she? And how did she get into their house?
The ending on this one was a little convoluted but most of the story was very enjoyable and there are even some breadcrumbs set up for the next book in the series. 

Three and a half stars

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #7

This book came out January 28, 2020

Follows Death Comes to Bath

Followed by Death Comes to the Rectory

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own 

A Most Murderous Wedding by Bianca Blythe

Ruby Irving is all set to marry the man she... well, likes well enough. But, at the altar, he decides that he doesn't want to marry a tycoon's daughter. Maybe it's because she's from Nevada? Her father is livid and threatens to kill the groom. Of course, when he ends up dead, her father is the main suspect. But Ruby believes in her father. He's not a murderer. And she's going to prove it.
I liked her character. The story was not quite as cohesive, it was, in fact, a little disjointed and the ending came out of nowhere but I am interested in reading the next book in the series to see if it smooths out. 

Three stars

This book came out January 30, 2024

Murder Most Gilded Age #1

ARC kindly provided by Somerset Park Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday

Archie and Clementine grew up together but haven't seen each other for about five years. Still, when her father sends him a letter asking for help, Archie is ready to ride to the rescue. He even drags along his two best friends because they're supposed to be on their annual "Earls Trip" (only two of them are earls, one is an heir.) They seem surprisingly okay with detouring their trip to help rescue Clementine who is hell bent on rescuing her sister, Olive. Then all five trundle off to continue on the earls trip. Without chaperones. To a house that has a bunch of bushes in phallic shapes.

I've only read contemporaries by Jenny Holiday and those a generally fairly fun. This book, though historical, still has those contemporary beats. If I had thought or known to expect an overlay of contemporary banter, ideals, and jargon over a historical setting, I think it would have made the book more enjoyable for me.  

Three and a half stars

This book comes out April 23, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to Bath by Catherine Lloyd

In the last book, Major Robert Kurland was having some problems with the same leg that has been giving him trouble since Waterloo. His doctor (and family friend) recommends a trip to Bath to attend the healing waters. 

While there (along with Lucy's sister Anna and Penelope Fletcher who insists on coming along), they meet Sir William Benson. He is an irascible old man who seems to like no one in his family but really strikes up a connection with Robert. Of course, he will be the one to die. Robert is one of the first to find him and recognizes that, though he has appeared to have drowned in one of the baths, the man was really murdered.

Then comes a complex mystery including the man's own sons (really only two of the three are focused on), his two stepsons, the wife who looks so much younger than him, and their personal doctor. It's another mystery for Robert and Lucy to solve and they are going to have to solve some number puzzles in order to do it.

Three stars

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #6

This book came out January 28, 2020

Follows Death Comes to the School

Followed by Death Comes to the Nursery

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus Catalog

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to the School by Catherine Lloyd

Lucy and Major Kurland have been married for three years. Recently, Lucy has had some miscarriages and they are both a little tender and walking softly around each other. But that doesn't include the new school teacher. She was hired while Lucy was in her sick bed and she is... really not good. But is she connected to the poison pen letters that people have been receiving? Including one to Lucy herself?

When the teacher is killed in the classroom, no one is really upset but Lucy and Robert still want to know why it happened. Was she the author of the letters? Or was someone else trying to make trouble?

There were a few too many Big Misunderstandings at the end of this book (especially around Robert and a secondary character) but it was still enjoyable to listen to.

Kurland St. Mary Mystery, #5

Three stars

This book came out November 28, 2017

Follows Death Comes to the Fair

Followed by Death Comes to Bath

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Wait Until Midnight by Amanda Quick

Caroline Fordyce, the well-known widowed author of sensational novels, seems to be caught up in a real-life sensation of her own. She was just trying to do research for her next novel but, after the medium she was visiting is killed, Caroline comes under the focus of Adam Hardesty. Normally, she is not the sort of person he would focus on. At least in her opinion. They move in entirely different social circles. So why is he focusing on her now? Soon the two are caught up in a world of murder and blackmail. And, quite possibly, they are finding their way to true love.

A typical Quick book. Good for a light, fast read.

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 25, 2005

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus catalog

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to the Fair by Catherine Lloyd

The fourth in a series, I did not feel like I was missing anything by not having read the first three. Miss Lucy Harrington, rector's daughter, is engaged to Major Robert Kurland. He is anxious to get married but her fancy-pants relatives are planning the wedding of the century and it's taking forever. Even the village fair is more irritating than he thought. Especially since he is the one who is supposed to judge the entries. To Lucy's dismay, he decides to buck the tradition of spreading the winners among various families and just assigns whoever he thought won. She knows that it will create resentments among the villagers, especially since Ezekiel Thurrock, the church verger, is the one to win most of the prizes. Major Kurland thinks that everyone needs to just suck it up, but when Mr. Thurrock is found dead, his head bashed in by a gargoyle, he wonders whether there are more tempers related to the fair than he thought.

There was a lot going on in this book which made it a little busy at times and the ending was... odd but overall a very readable book.

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #4

Three stars

This book came out November 29, 2016

Follows Death Comes to Kurland Hall

Followed by Death Comes to the School

Hard copy from library

Opinion are my own

Lie by Moonlight by Amanda Quick

Concordia Glade thought that she had landed the perfect job. She had just been fired from her last position and working as a teacher to four girls at an out of the way castle seemed like a dream come true. Except that the dream was more like a nightmare. The girls kept telling her that their last teacher disappeared mysteriously and Concordia is beginning to think that she's about to do the same. She and the girls concoct a plan to escape. Their pyrotechnics display annoys Ambrose Wells who has come to the castle in order to disrupt the plans of a master criminal. Ambrose uses his Vanza training to help right wrongs and this is a huge speed bump.

Concordia and Ambrose will have to work together to save the girls and maybe even fall in love along the way.

Vanza #4

Three stars

This book came out in 2005

Follows Wicked Widow

Audiobook from Audible Plus catalog

Opinions are my own

Death Comes To Kurland Hall by Catherine Lloyd

After the less-than-romantic proposal at the end of the last book, Lucy Harrington is ready to be home. Especially since her best friend is getting married to a man that is perfect for her. Too bad his best friend is Major Robert Kurland, a man Lucy would be perfectly happy to avoid. 

She'd also love to avoid Robert's former fiancee, Miss Penelope Chingford, and her family. Too bad the three women have not only been invited to the wedding, they're staying at the vicarage with Lucy and her father. And, unfortunately, Mrs. Chingford hasn't gotten any more pleasant, still spreading venom hidden behind sugared words.

It's even more unfortunate that Mrs. Chingford gets engaged to Lucy's father. And then ends up dead. Was her fall down the stairs an accident? Or murder? It's up to Lucy and Robert (only recently reconciled to each other) to figure out exactly what is going on.

I fell in love with the first book and enjoyed this one as well, though not quite as much. The patter between Lucy and Robert wasn't as fresh. Though I did enjoy seeing Penelope Chingford become almost likable.

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #3

Three and a half stars

This book came out November 24, 2015

Follows Death Comes to London

Followed by Death Comes to the Fair

Hard copy from library

Opinion are my own

Secrets of a Scottish Isle by Erica Ruth Neubauer

Jane Wunderly has infiltrated a secret cult. She's mainly on her own though her fiance, Redvers, is also on the island. This is the Golden Dawn, based on a cult that actually existed. And involved in that cult? W. B. Yeats who makes an appearance in this book. Not sure if it's actually successful though. 

 The mystery deepens when one of the initiates is killed but nobody's really sure how it was done. Add in a rival cult made up of former members and the suspect pool deepens.  

Three stars

This book comes out March 26, 2023

Follows Intrigue in Istanbul

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Serpentine Bridge by Andrea Penrose

Charlotte and Wrexford are married. She and the boys as well as the maid have moved into his house. But that doesn't keep them from finding another dead body. This time it's that of a Black man who is found floating in a lake. The man ends up being not only someone who has developed a way to make guns more efficient but is also the relative of Charlotte's brother's brother-in-law's nephew, a young lord. He is currently the ward of his uncle but Charlotte and Wrexford can tell he is not being treated well among his own family. Luckily, Peregrine (another bird!) makes friends with Raven and Hawk. 

The three boys will play an important part in helping the adults solve this murder.

Also, another story line is finally starting to get resolved with Cordelia and Kit.

Wrexford and Sloane #6

Four stars

Follows Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens

Followed by Murder at the Merton Library

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to London by Catherine Lloyd

What a perfectly lovely story. It's a romance with a slow burn. We actually get to see Major Kurland and Miss Harrington interact even as they're solving a mystery. I didn't read the first book but didn't feel like I missed much. There was no major info dump; instead, we learned about their past slowly. 

Lucy Harrington is going to London to accompany her younger (lovelier?) sister to attend the Season. Major Kurland is about to be given a baronetcy for bravery on the field so he also goes to town. There, they meet the Broughton family. The elder son, a lieutenant, served with Major Kurland. He is also a scientist. His younger brother is something of a loose canon as is his grandmother. The grandmother who falls dead in the middle of Almack's while she's ranting. But it's not her heart, they soon discover, it was poison. 

I can't wait to get the next book in the series.

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #2

Four stars

This book came out November 25, 2014

Follows Death comes to the Village

Followed by Death comes to Kurland Hall

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Mrs. Brodie's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies by Shana Galen, Theresa Romain

I can't remember why I put this on my wishlist in 2018 but I finally got this book this year. It was... fine. Not worth the wait though.

In the first story, Jack and Marianne were childhood sweethearts. He married someone else and now he's hunted her down for... reasons? Closure? She's a cook at the school and he's there to sweep her away from a life that she basically enjoys. He's an ass and she's not much better. 

In the second story, Bridget and Caleb were sweethearts (a theme) but he left her to pursue his career as a spy. He's not even really back right now but, when he finds out they had a son, he's ready to help her find their boy and head for a new life in Canada.

I can see how this would have been an amazing series but was woefully underdeveloped in two short stories by authors I normally enjoy.

Two stars

This book came out September 14, 2018

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Miss Prim and the Duke of Wylde by Stephanie Laurens

Drago Helmsford, the Duke of Wyld, has decided to take a wife. His aunt has the perfect candidate. But a drunken night of revelry leads to a misunderstanding and he ends up engaged to Meg Cynster. Though she is in her tenth season, it is more by choice than anything else. When they realize that they are probably going to have to bite the bullet and stay engaged for awhile, Meg and Drago do something unusual in a romance novel, they actually talk to each other and come up with a plan. As they are pretending to be engaged, they learn that they might actually like each other well enough to actually get married. It is then that the accidents start to happen... who is trying to kill them? And which one of them is the true target?

If you've read Laurens before, you'll know who and can probably figure out why but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book. 

Cynsters Next Generation #13

Three and a half stars

This book came out August 17, 2023

Follows Miss Flibbertigibbet and the Barbarian

Followed by A Family of His Own

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn

It's time for another adventure with Veronica and Stoker. They start out with a tamarin monkey (which is quickly pawned off on Lord Rosemorran's youngest daughter) and end up with a Beauty. Supposedly an anatomical model that doctors could use to study the human body since dissection during this time period was so reviled. However, this beauty was obviously a young woman who was once a living person, not a wax work. But who could have done something so heinous?

The trail leads them to a pair of twins whose scientific inquiries were supported by the second son of a lord. A fire supposedly killed the male twin and his laboratory but did he really die?

Stoker and Veronica pick up some new friends in this book including Plutree, a mortician who has an overbearing mother and is interested in profiling. The other is Spyridon, a man who Stoker knew in Greece but who traveled back to England with Lady Wellie who seems to be getting more frail.

Four stars

This book comes out March 12, 2024

Follows A Sinister Revenge

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Murder at the Village Fete by Catherine Coles

This book picks up close to when the last book left off, with Tommy Christie, former policeman, trying to pick up after having unexpectedly been made the newest Lord of Northmoor after the last two were murdered in the first book of the series. There is a village fete, the first in a long time, and everyone is happy. Well, almost everyone. Someone is certainly unhappy as there is another murder. And it has something to do with a story that happened during the war, accusations of cutting corners to make money, and Evelyn's father is one of the accused. 

For a mystery, this series has tended to be fairly light. It will be interesting to see if all of the stories stay this close together in timeline.

Tommy and Evelyn #2

Three stars

Follows Murder at the Manor

Followed by Murder in the Churchyard

Ebook of mine on Kindle
Opinions are my own

Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens by Andrea Penrose

Charlotte and Wrexford are getting married. That means that they are incredibly busy with wedding plans and the social twirl of being a newly engaged couple. It is at one of the parties, one at the Royal Botanic Gardens, that Wrexford is summoned into another room. He has gained a reputation for solving murders and the murdered man's friend is convinced this is not a natural death. Yes, the man had heart problems but the white powder around his mouth points to a different reason for death. 
An old enemy comes back and a new comrade (a cousin of Thomas Jefferson, no less) is made. 
A nice book with a branching into the botanic realm of the time, stepping out of the technical one a little bit. 

Wrexford & Sloan #5

Four stars

This book came out September 28, 2021

Follows Murder at Queen's Landing

Followed by Murder at the Serpentine Bridge

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own