Month: April 2025

A Wallflower’s Guide to Viscounts and Vice by Manda Collins

On By TracyIn Historical Mystery, Mystery, Part of a Series, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

A Wallflower’s Guide to Viscounts and Vice (A Wallflower’s Guide #1)A Wallflower’s Guide to Viscounts and Vice by Manda Collins

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: A Wallflower’s Guide, #1

Release Date: April 22, 2025

After the murder of his father, William, Viscount Gilford left England to grieve and has stayed away for years, but his sojourn comes to a swift end when his friend, American Benjamin Woodward to give him a message from Gilford’s man of business, informing him that his estate steward embezzled his fortune, and he is needed back in England. Once home, he learns that the situation is worse than he thought, and he will have to marry an heiress immediately. He meets his sister’s friend Lucy Penhallow almost immediately and despite his need to find a bride, he finds himself drawn to Lucy. He knows that he should be looking elsewhere for a bride, but soon finds himself immersed in mystery, mayhem and murder and falling in love with the one woman he should not be pursuing.

Heiress Lucy Penhallow and her friends are wallflowers by choice and members of the Mischief and Mayhem book club (aka The Ems), when one of the members, Miss Vera Blackwell, an American heiress is abducted during a ball, Lucy and William are witnesses and join together to find her. But finding a missing heiress quickly turns into a dangerous endeavor, for both her heart and her life.

What a great read! This book was everything I had hoped it would be and more! Lucy and William are wonderful characters, both are easy to like and have an undeniable chemistry. Ms. Collins did a great job with both the mystery and the world building of this story, giving her readers an intriguing start to the new series. The book has betrayal, friendship, great secondary characters, danger, a little heartache, a lot of mystery, a dash of spice and finally a very hard-won HEA. This is the first book in a new series and a story I am happy to recommend to my fellow HR & Historical Mystery readers!

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

Season of Death by Will Thomas

On By BarbaraIn Audiobook, Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Scottish/Highlander, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

Season of Death (A Barker & Llewelyn #16)Barbara’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Barker and Llewelyn #16
Publication Date: 4/22/25
Period: Victorian London
Number of Pages: 352

This latest book in the Barker and Llewelyn series marks ten years of partnership between Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Thomas grow from a starving, newly-released prisoner, who is down-on-his-luck, into the competent investigator who still values the teachings of the enigmatic Barker. It is a partnership of opposites that just works on so many levels.

Something is afoot in London’s East End, and it is up to Barker and Llewelyn to figure it all out. They currently have two cases on their slate – one case is to find the missing sister-in-law of a London toff who is very powerful and politically connected. The other client is Scotland Yard – and they want to know why the East End has gotten so quiet. What is going on? That becomes an even more important question when all of the leadership of the various gangs, guilds, etc., of the East End are suddenly killed when a large tunnel caves in. Deliberate or an accident? Will there be wars within the different factions until new leaders emerge?

The resolution is well done with all of the threads nicely tied with a series of shorter chapters wrapping them. The heroes and heroines all get their nice rewards, and the villains get equally bad outcomes.

I read the print version and I also listened to the audiobook. The narrator, Antony Ferguson, did an excellent job of making the characters come to life with his smooth delivery. I thoroughly enjoyed his characterizations of the perky Thomas Llewelyn and the gruff Angus Barker.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

View all my reviews