Barbara’s rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Series: A Doyle & Acton Mystery #17
Publication Date: 9/24/23
Period: Contemporary – Dublin
Number of Pages: 218
I am totally bewitched by this quirky series with such flawed, yet endearing characters. The strait-laced, fey, Irish Roman Catholic, Doyle is tasked with keeping her brilliant, scorched-earth, vigilante husband, Acton, under control by tempering his edges and keeping him on the straight-and-narrow. You’ll never meet a more mismatched pair, yet they work perfectly together.
Acton, Doyle, the children, their security, and staff are all in Dublin for the groundbreaking ceremony of a science lab they are donating to the school Doyle attended when growing up – St. Brigid’s School for Girls. This was all Acton’s idea and Doyle knows he’s up to something – she just has to figure out what that is – and put a stop to it. Whatever it is surely won’t be good – donating the science lab is good, but the ulterior motive won’t be.
At first, Doyle is sure Acton’s plot must have something to do with Sir Stephen, Acton’s distant cousin. Acton knows Sir Stephen plotted the death of a priest in order to gain control of the man’s family money – but – Acton is steering well away from all of that and allowing justice to take its course properly. That is so unlike him! Yet, while she’s sure there is a plot, she absolutely cannot find any evidence of one. She even employs her fey powers of being able to tell when someone is lying – and he’s not lying. So – what can he be up to?
When they discover a body beneath a tree where Doyle is giving her speech during the groundbreaking ceremony, Doyle wonders if this relates to whatever Acton is up to. No, he’s as surprised as everyone else is – and the body turns out to have been in the ground for a really long time.
If not Sir Stephen, and not the dead body, then what is Acton up to? Perhaps he really isn’t up to anything at all other than trying to give back to a place that means a lot to his wife. Perhaps it relates to their last ill-fated trip to Dublin. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. You’ll just have to read this very entertaining fast-paced story to find out if Acton is up to something – and if he is, can Doyle put a wrench in the works?
I can recommend this book, this series, and this author, and I hope you’ll enjoy this book as much as I did should you choose to read it. Happy Reading!
Uncovering a web of conspiracy that intertwines past and present, can Lady Beatrice and DCI Richard Fitzwilliam catch a killer and unveil the truth of her husband’s death at long last?
BREAKING NEWS Second Senior Police Officer Dies Within a Week
A senior officer from the Protection and Investigations (Royal) Services died unexpectedly yesterday. His death comes hot on the heels of Detective Inspector Ethan Preece (43) from City Police, who died of a suspected heart attack last week. Although he’s not yet been named, the dead officer was a greatly respected public figure, who had served in policing for over thirty years. A PaIRS spokesperson has confirmed that ‘neither men’s death is being treated as suspicious at this time’.
With the senior PaIRS officer dead, so is any hope of reopening the inquiry into Lady Beatrice’s husband’s accident fifteen years ago. Unless, of course, there is something that links the two men to the Earl’s fatal car crash?
Can she and Fitzwilliam, along with their friends, work together to unravel the mystery and catch a killer before the truth is buried forever?
Hello. I’m Helen Golden. I write British contemporary cozy whodunnits with a hint of humour. I live in a small village in Lincolnshire in the UK with my husband, my step-daughter, her two cats, our two dogs, sometimes my step-son, and our tortoise.
I used to work in senior management, but after my recent job came to a natural end I had the opportunity to follow my dreams and start writing. It’s very early in my life as an author, but so far I’m loving it.
It’s crazy busy at our house, so when I’m writing I retreat to our caravan (an impulsive lockdown purchase) which is mostly parked on our drive. When I really need total peace and quiet, I take it to a lovely site about 15 minutes away and hide there until my family runs out of food or clean clothes
This is definitely my favorite book of the series so far. Things are going off in every direction and you’ll need your head on a swivel to keep up. It is interesting, engaging, exciting, and a tad bittersweet for Lady Beatrice. With murders, spies, cartels, and things from the past to swat at you, you’ll be so engrossed you’ll lose all track of time.
One of my favorite things is that it was more of an ensemble cast this time around. It wasn’t Lady Beatrice and Perry Juke stumbling across a dead body and then running roughshod over the police investigation to solve the crime themselves. As a matter of fact, this book probably gave Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam as much page time as Lady Beatrice – and their relationship was actually cordial rather than adversarial. I am delighted to see the burgeoning relationship between the two and will be happy to see where it leads.
City Police Detective Inspector Ethan Preece was shot (wounded) during a protection detail for a member of the royal family – but then – he was murdered in his hospital bed. Not many days later, a senior officer with the PaIRS, Protection and Investigations (Royal) Services, was also murdered. DCI Richard Fitzwilliam doesn’t like coincidences, and two police inspectors being murdered within such a short time is just too much of a coincidence for them not to be related. But how? They didn’t work in the same departments. They weren’t friends, though they’d been in the same department many years ago. Fitzwilliam is pretty sure he isn’t going to like the answers when he finds them. He sure is right about that!
Lady Beatrice is interested in the investigation but sees no reason to be involved in it. Except, both of the men were involved in the investigation of her husband’s death more than fifteen years earlier. She’s never been at ease with that investigation and has sought more and more information as the years have passed – but now, with those two officers gone, her inquiries are also at a dead end.
Lady Beatrice, Perry Juke, and Simon Lattimore make a formidable investigating team in this series – and they continue in this book. They are also joined by Emma and Izzy McKeer-Adler whom we’ve also previously met. We also have a short visit with Brett Goodman of the CIA whom we met in the last book. DCI Fitzwilliam and Detective Sergeant Spicer round out the crew along with a new character, Detective Sergeant Hardwick. Can that illustrious lot of folks put the clues together, identify the bad guys, and then thwart them? You bet they can – and they do. Goodness, what an ending!
I can definitely recommend this exciting, well-written, nicely-paced book. If you love a good mystery, red herrings, and seeing the bad guys get their comeuppance, this book is for you.
Does Beatrice get her answers or is this the end of her chance to do so? After all these years, does it really matter? You’ll just need to read the book to see.
Happy Reading!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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