Category: Historical Mystery

A Rogue’s Company – Allison Montclare

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, World War II Era (1939-1945)Leave a comment

A Rogue's Company (Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery, #3)A Rogue’s Company by Allison Montclair
Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Sparks and Bainbridge #3
Publication Date: 6/8/21
Period: Post WWII – 1946
Number of Pages: 352
** 4.5 Stars **

Goodness! I do believe I have found another historical mystery series to love. This author is new to me – and I’m so glad to have found her. I was a bit concerned about coming into the series on the third book, but that didn’t impede my enjoyment of the story in the least. The book is excellently written, the plot is well defined with the clues dribbled out just right, the villain(s) get their just desserts, and our two intrepid ladies from the Right Sort Marriage Bureau have solved another case.

If you just looked on the surface, you would never believe that Mrs. Gwendolyn (Gwen) Bainbridge and Miss Iris Sparks would ever be in the same room with each other, much less great friends and business partners. However, if you do look beneath the surface, you will see two broken ladies trying their very best to recover from the ravages of the war. Gwen lost the love of her life – her husband Robbie – and ended up in a sanitarium for a while – and she lost guardianship of her only child to her dastardly father-in-law. Iris did many things in the war while working for the government. Most of those things weren’t polite and they certainly weren’t nice. She’s trying her best to come to grips with that past, to curb her recklessness – and to curb her drinking. Each of them seems to provide the encouragement and support the other needs.

So many things are set in motion when Lord Bainbridge, Gwen’s father-in-law, returns after six months in Africa where he was checking up on Bainbridge, Ltd. assets held there. He is in a nasty temper all of the time, treats everyone badly – even his sweet grandson. Of course, none of this is new to any of them – he’s always been that way. Instead of taking time with his family, he is immediately off to his club – and the pattern continues.

Gwen has become healthier and more stable over the last months, and she’s wanting to retrieve her guardianship of her son away from Lord Bainbridge – and she wants to claim her inheritance as well – which is also controlled by Lord Bainbridge. Lord Bainbridge, of course, isn’t happy about any of that and has no intention of relinquishing control of anything to Gwen.

Gwen overhears and even participates in some strange conversations – she doesn’t totally understand them, but she’ll puzzle them out. Then, there is a murder of an African man behind Lord Bainbridge’s club. There is absolutely nothing to identify the man and nobody saw anything. Then, things get really intense when Lord Bainbridge is kidnapped.

OMGoodness! Can Iris and her less than savory friends manage to save Gwen? Lord Bainbridge? Then, of course, there is a big surprise – welcome or not????

It took me a bit to get into the story, but goodness gracious – when I did – it was Annie Get Your Guns! I loved it! I loved the characters and can’t wait to see what the future holds for them. I do worry about Iris’s love life though. I like the man she loves – and I think he loves her – but – with his profession, I can only see hurt in her future if he doesn’t mend his ways.

I can highly recommend this book and I hope you will love it as much as did.

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

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. *