Heiress for Hire by Madeline Hunter

Tracy’s rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: A Duke’s Heiress, #1

Release Date: April 28, 2020

Chase Radnor’s evening is not going as planned. His plan was to learn more about Minerva Hepplewhite aka Margaret Finley, it was NOT to be bashed on the head and tied up. He tells Minerva that he is the nephew of the late Duke of Hollinburgh and that Minerva/Margaret was left a rather large bequest by the duke. Ten thousand pounds and a partnership in an investment! Minerva is stunned, she has never met the duke and though this inheritance is a blessing, giving her the money she needs to open her own inquiry business, but it could also be a curse, especially since Chase knows who she is. What else does he know? She decides her first order of business will be to find out

Chase has his own inquiry business and has been tasked with finding the three mystery women his uncle left his personal fortune to – completely cutting out his family. He is also certain that the duke didn’t accidently fall off the roof of his county seat and has more than one person – including the Home Secretary, Robert Peel! He is pretty sure his uncle was murdered – but by who. None of the family, save himself knew his uncle changed his will and cut out the family – so Minerva becomes his prime suspect.

Their investigations cross and they get to know one another, Chase is no longer certain that Minerva is his uncle’s killer, but he isn’t quite ready to cut ties with her. Minerva is equally intrigued by Chase, which comes as a shock, she was sure that she would never be interested in a man after the horrors she lived through with her late husband, but intrigued she is, which could be dangerous for her in more ways than one.

I thought this was a good book, a little slow to take off, but well written and interesting. The mysteries in the book are well done and while I am not sure how I feel about the outcome of his uncle’s death, I think the way that was handled perfectly complements the mystery of Minerva’s husband’s death. Chase and Minerva are both complexed characters, they are both shaped by their pasts, both clever and observant and clearly perfect for each other. In addition to the mysteries, the book has a large cast of secondary characters, a slow burn romance, steamish love scenes and a HEA that is nicely executed. This is the first book in the series and it nicely sets up the series without taking the readers focus from Chase and Minerva. I am happy to recommend the book and look forward to the next book!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to by NetGalley and the publisher.*