Barbara’s rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: Crime and Passion #3.5?
Publication Date: 10/14/23
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 76 (Novella)

I love this series, but I’m unsure which number in the series this one is. It was initially published as a part of the Dragonblade Publishing Anthology, A Midnight Requiem, in October 2022, and is now being published as a standalone novella. I hate that authors/publishers seem to be avoiding listing the series and the number within the series on their books. It makes it downright difficult for readers to find the next book in a series.

Ghosties, goblins, and things that go bump in the night! Oh! My! Pragmatic and level-headed Lady Grizelda Tizsa does not believe in ghosts, but there is something very strange at the castle ruins on the Cathlinn House estate. Everyone claims the ghost of Aileen Cathlinn, who died a hundred years ago, haunts the ruins. Does she? Is she malevolent? Did she lure April Weir to the ruins where she would die? April was the betrothed of Richard Cathlinn and died at the ruins under mysterious circumstances. Yet, everyone seems to want to claim it was natural causes.

Lady Grizelda and her husband Dragan Tizsa were attending a family reunion at Grizelda’s father’s country estate when Dragan received a request from a close acquaintance asking him to come to Cathlinn House to investigate the death of his betrothed, April. Lady Grizelda refused to go because of the fretful baby, but Dragan went anyway. That didn’t go over very well. However, when Dragan wrote asking her to come help, she relented.

Grizelda sees what she believes to be a person at the ruins – after all, she doesn’t believe in ghosts. Yet, when she tries to show the person to others, there is no one there. Even on her arrival at Cathlinn House, Grizelda sees someone – and that someone is embracing her husband!

With an autopsy proving the death was neither natural nor otherworldly, can Dragan and Lady Grizelda identify the murderer before he/she strikes again? There are more suspects than you can count between the residents and servants who live in the house. Will they be able to lure the murderer out without being harmed themselves? You’ll have to read this delightfully ghoulish, ghostie, goblin-infested tome to see!

One additional thing delighted me about the book – I discovered the author can’t keep the spelling of Tizsa’s name straight either. 🙂 It was only a couple of times, but she did what I frequently do – she spelled it Tisza. 🙂 I loved it – I am not alone.

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