Category: Historical Mystery

An Ominous Explosion by Lynn Messina

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An Ominous Explosion (Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries #10)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries #10
Publication Date: 6/13/22
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 278

Goodness! What a lovely fun and entertaining read filled with wit and great good humor. I can only imagine how exasperating it must be to live with Bea, Duchess of Keswick. Then, to be her husband must make Damian’s, Duke of Keswick, hair turn prematurely gray from worry over the heedless risks she takes. I guess all of that is to say that the author definitely manages to bring the characters to life. Bea is definitely NOT your regular, run-of-the-mill duchess.

“From almost the very beginning, I have been troubled by your recklessness, the way you bound heedlessly into danger, determined to investigate murders that have nothing to do with you,”

“Realizing that I can lose you at any moment to a stupid and senseless accident is a thoroughly unpleasant revelation for me. I never imagined I could feel this way, and if I had had an inkling of what was in store, I would never have knocked on your window.”

All of that said, he doesn’t limit her – he tried once, but that didn’t last long. Now, he just goes along, helps her, and does his best to protect her. You’ll love Keswick! That is how he ended up in the pre-dawn hours picking a lock to enter a large building where an explosion happened the afternoon before. Bea is certain that the explosion was purposeful and therefore, the death that occurred was murder.

What good was a Corinthian if he could not rise at dawn, fully awake and alive to all the possibilities of life?

Their investigation moves along and Bea and Keswick sort through and eliminate suspects as they learn more – and sometimes they add suspects back to the list. What could the motive for murder be? Was it really an accident? No, Bea is sure it wasn’t and Keswick agrees with her. Could the murderer have intended all of the dire consequences for so many people – just by murdering one man? Was the man who died really the intended victim?

I absolutely love the light and witty banter between Bea and Damian as they solve the crime. I’d say you could read this as a stand-alone, and you can, but you might have a few ‘scratch your head’ moments because you’ll have missed out on learning the backgrounds of Damian and Bea and how they came together.

I definitely enjoyed this book and hope you will as well.

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Lady Violet Attends a Wedding by Grace Burrowes

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

Lady Violet Attends a Wedding (The Lady Violet Mysteries, #2)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: The Lady Violet Mysteries #2
Publication Date: 2/22/22 (First Published 11/25/21
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 245

We still don’t have a resolution to the love triangle in the series, so that aspect of the book troubles me. I love a romance in my historical mysteries, and I’m sure this will have one – eventually. After all, it is a Grace Burrowes book and she writes superb romances. However, I don’t care for triangles and really wanted a quick resolution. I must say though, it is written very well. It isn’t one of those triangles where the men are constantly at odds and argumentative. Instead, they seem to have formed a bit of a friendship and are both bent on protecting and looking out for Violet. I like that and I hate that – because one of them is going to be really hurt. But, maybe our intrepid author will handle that one with aplomb as well.

Lady Violet Belmaine has not dealt well with her widowhood – not that she was a happily married lady. She just had trouble dealing with it all, but thanks to the ministrations of Dr. Hugh St. Sevier she’s beginning to come out of hiding. She recently attended a house party and now she is on the way to attend her youngest brother’s wedding. It is hard to believe her sweet brother, Felix, is marrying. However, an accident as they arrive at the estate nearly takes Violet’s life and puts her out of commission for a little while. Luckily, her traveling companion, Hugh, manages to pull her from the raging waters and then treat her injuries.

Dr. Hugh St. Sevier is a French émigré who served with the English in the wars against Napoleon. It hurt him beyond belief to serve against his countrymen, but he couldn’t support Napoleon. As a physician in the wars, he did his best to heal soldiers from both sides even though each side mistrusted him. He is also totally besotted with Violet.

Sebastian, Marquess of Dunkeld was a Colonel in the English army – a war hero. He also had a history with Violet. Sebastian was totally besotted with Violet and asked her father if he could court her. Her father refused – and did even worse – he belittled Sebastian and told him Violet did as well. Violet wasn’t aware that her friend had asked to court her – she would have welcomed it – but she was never given the chance.

Felix is entirely besotted with his bride-to-be, Katie Engle, and she is entirely besotted with him. That should certainly mean many years of happiness in their future. However, they must manage to marry first, and fate seems to be conspiring against them. Something must be amiss with the Engle finances because her father has yet to show up to discuss the marriage settlements. Then, the worst thing of all: Katie goes missing! No, she didn’t get cold feet and run away, she is well and truly missing. England’s weather has conspired to make searching nearly impossible and if Katie is exposed to the elements, she may not survive.

Will they find Katie? Will her parents finally show up to sign the marriage settlements? You’ll just have to read the book to find out. I can definitely recommend it as it is a lovely read.

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