Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Countess of Harleigh Mystery #6
Publication Date: 6/27/23
Period: Victorian – 1900 London
Number of Pages: 304
Missing jewels, a missing diary, a dead Viscount, a drugged Viscountess, a dead nurse, and a debutante with secrets will keep you on the edge of your seat in this excellently written and delightfully entertaining story. George Hazelton and his new wife, Frances, the former Countess of Harleigh, have their work cut out for them this time. Not that they exactly knew it was a case in the beginning. George was asked by the British Museum to find a diary that had been left to them by the late Viscount Winstead. They must have the diary to provide the provenance of the artifacts also left to them by the late Viscount, yet it wasn’t turned over to them along with the artifacts. The missing diary makes the artifacts practically worthless. At the same time, Frances has been asked by the dowager Viscountess Winstead to help introduce her niece into society. It is a happy little accident that both of their tasks coincide because Frances has access to the home of the Winsteads and George does not.
The Winsteads win the prize for dysfunctional families. When Frances walks into their home she finds a nearly comatose Viscountess whose illness no one can explain, a new Viscount with no love for his stepmother, and various other family members living off the Viscount. They are venal, disrespectful, and have no thought for anyone other than themselves. However, being dysfunctional, venal, disrespectful, or hateful doesn’t make you a murderer – does it?
With Frances ensconced within the Winstead household, George has plenty to be concerned about. Without him there, there is no one to protect Frances from the murderer who is surely roaming the halls of that house. Frances could easily fall prey to someone clever enough to keep the Viscountess drugged, has committed at least one murder and maybe two, and has stolen some of the Viscountess’s jewels. Who can it be? Is it a member of the family? Is it more than one person? Is it the nurse? Is it the viscountess herself perpetrating a hoax? I’ll not tell – you’ll just have to read the book.
I definitely recommend this book and this series. The writing is excellent, the pacing nearly perfect, and the character development will make you want to meet them in person. Well, you’ll want to meet the good ones anyway. It is a fun, entertaining read with a lovely mystery and lots of shenanigans among some of the characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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