Month: May 2021

Undercover Duke by Sabrina Jeffries

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Historical Mystery, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Undercover Duke (Duke Dynasty, #4)Undercover Duke by Sabrina Jeffries

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Duke Dynasty, #4

Release Date: May 25, 2021

This series started when after the deaths of 3 husbands and her brother-in-law, the Duchess of Armitage’s children begin to wonder if foul play was involved and set out to discover the truth. After a lot of frustration and dead ends, the siblings have narrowed their suspects down to three ladies that were present at the time of the deaths of the duchess’s first two husbands. One of the ladies is the Duke of Greycourt’s aunt, but with his wife entering confinement with their first child, Grey tasks his half-brother Sheridan Wolfe, the Duke of Armitage with interviewing his aunt, Lady Eustance. With no real reason to call on her, Sheridan forms a plan to pretend to woo her daughter, Vanessa Pryde. An idea that takes wings when Vanessa agrees to play along if Sheridan will help her make the playwright, Konrad Juncker jealous enough to offer for her.

Vanessa has no interest in Mr. Juncker, Sheridan has always been the man she wanted, but he has never paid any interest in her at all and has made it clear that he is not looking to marry any time soon. She is hopeful that if he spends time with her, she can change his mind. But what she doesn’t know is that Sheridan’s heart was broken years ago and he refuses to risk it again – no matter how much Vanessa tempts him. But when they are caught in a passionate embrace, the only way to protect Vanessa is to marry her. Sheridan rationalizes his eagerness by thinking that he is keeping her out of the clutches of the rakish Mr. Juncker, that her dowry will help shore up his failing estate and he will have credible access to her mother for questioning – that is his story and he is sticking to it!

After they marry, Vanessa learns the real reason he started wooing her and is hurt, but she wants to clear her mother’s name and offers to help. But Sheridan was not the only one with secrets and these two will have to come clean and open their hearts to get their HEA, assuming that the killer doesn’t strike again before they get the chance!

This was a good book, well-written and nicely paced with wonderful characters and the conclusion to a series-long, well-thought-out, and perfectly executed murder mystery. The book is full of secrets, steamyish love scenes, great characters, cameos from previous heroes/heroines, a hero with a broken heart, a heroine who knows what she wants, and a nail-biter ending as well as a very sweet and satisfying epilogue. I enjoyed this book and am happy to recommend it. This is the fourth book in the series and while it could be read as a standalone, I would strongly recommend reading the series in order for the best reader experience.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Key Mishaps in Lower Dimblebrook by Julie Butterfield

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, MysteryLeave a comment

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Isabelle Darby Cozy Village Mysteries #3
Publication Date: 5/14/21
Period: Contemporary – Cotswolds, United Kingdom
Number of Pages: 217

This author grabbed my attention when I stumbled across her first book in this series, Deadly Whispers in Lower Dimblebrook. The series is fun with its delightful characters who make up the population of Lower Dimblebrook – plus the handsome, smart, dour, and grumpy DCI Wainwright who has to come in and investigate all of the murders that have been happening over the last year.

About a year or so ago, Isabelle Darby (Issie) moved to the quaint village to recover from her broken marriage and begin again. Her intention was to move to the village and just hide out, not meet the residents and certainly not come to like and care for them. A year ago, she was agape that they made their own jams and jellies, did a regular tea service with real brewed tea and all of the accompaniments, and cooked their meals at home. Now, she can’t imagine someone coming to her door and not offering them a full tea service. She hasn’t gotten into the jam and jelly making yet – but she thinks she might get into that this summer. Ah – and she hopes there is a man in her life – DCI Dave Wainwright. He’s been off on temporary assignment in the big city for the last ten weeks, but he’s due back any time now and she hopes what had started before he left will still be there when he returns.

Issie absolutely loves spring in her beautiful village. The flowers are abundant, the smells are delightful, and everyone in the village stops what they are doing to wave and say hello as she walks by. This morning, she is on her way to feed Cleo, Mr. Donald Babbington’s cat. Mr. Babbington left this morning for an overnight trip to visit his aging mother in a nearby city. He is such a sweet and gentle man and was born and raised right there in their small village. Cleo is a very spoiled cat and expects to receive her meal promptly at 12:30 PM or she gets very upset. Issie has timed it just perfectly to arrive at the house, retrieve the key from under the mat, obtain the specially prepared food from the kitchen, and serve Cleo at precisely the right time. That is – until things go wrong – really, really, really wrong.

After returning from his temporary assignment, DCI Wainwright didn’t expect his first sighting of Issie to be at the scene of yet another murder in Lower Dimblebrook. Goodness, he just wanted to spend time with her – but he can’t – he has to treat her as any other witness to a murder. Can he do that?

DCI Wainwright and his assistant DC Cotterill have little to go on. Any slim lead they get seems to wither almost as soon as they find it. Somebody murdered Mr. Babbington and they cannot figure out who or why. Then, what is it with all of the keys that keep disappearing and showing up in strange places? Are they a diversion to keep the detectives distracted? Can Issie stay out of his investigation this time?

This was a delightfully entertaining and fun read. The mystery was great, the characters were interesting and compelling – and yes – there was a bit of romance. I simply must have a bit of romance in my mysteries. The romance was certainly secondary to the mystery, so don’t worry about that if you aren’t a romance fan. Now, I can hardly wait for the next book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.