Barbara’s rating: 4 out of 5
Series: The Lucy Lawrence Mysteries #4
Publication Date: 9/17/24
Period: Victorian – Lake Como, Italy 1888
Number of Pages: 323

This book was the perfect ending for the series. The mystery was multi-faceted, nuanced, and filled with red herrings and the personal relationships were absolutely lovely. I read the first book of the series and loved the characters and the mystery, but then I didn’t get a chance to read the other two books before this current one was here. Goodness! A lot has happened to/with Lucy and Phin since that first book and now I have to go back and read the missing books.

Lucy Lawrence and Phineas (Phin) Stone have just married and are ready to set off on their wedding trip when they get word from Phin’s sister, Elvira, Contessa Carmosina, that her husband, Luca, is missing. Luca has been missing several days and everyone fears the worst for the beloved young Conte.

Lucy and Phin will face their greatest dangers yet in the beautiful, idyllic setting of Lake Como. They quickly discover that they cannot rely on anyone because none, other than Elvira and their personal servants, can be trusted. There are dark undercurrents in the Lake Como area and some very ugly people who don’t want the Conte to survive and they’ll do anything to keep anyone else from learning those dark secrets. You will find yourself suspecting everyone and picturing all the scenarios to see if it was this person or that person. Then, you rapidly read to see where the author chose to take the tale. It is a book that involves all of you, body, mind, and heart in the story and it will not turn loose of any of those very quickly.

A beautifully written epilogue perfectly closes out the series for Lucy and Phin. It is a lovely, poignant, caring piece of the story and you will find yourself letting out a very satisfied sigh. My only problem with the book was that it painted too vivid a picture of Luca and made the reader come to really care for him, Elvira, and their family. It was hard to concentrate on solving the mystery when so much heartache was involved. So, in the end, when Lucy and Phin were celebrating all of their joys, I was thinking of Elvira, Luca, and the children whose lives were forever changed.

This was an excellently written story. If you love a complicated mystery and deeply involved emotional and romantic interests, then you will enjoy this book—and the series.

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

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Barbara’s rating: 4.4 out of 5 Stars
Series: The Lucy Lawrence Mysteries #1
Publication Date: 7/25/24
Period: Georgian
Number of Pages: 332

Oh! What a happy little accident! I discovered this lovely book and author while browsing around looking for something to read, and I think I am hooked. The writing was excellent, the plot was layered, nuanced, and multifaceted, and the characters were fully formed and three-dimensional. My favorite character was Phineas Stone, the handsome, intelligent investigator who was investigating a theft of rare, valuable sapphires. I also liked Lucy Lawrence, but, for me, she didn’t quite live up to the expectations set forth in the book. She leapt to the wrong conclusions much too often and often trusted or mistrusted the wrong people regularly. I’ll be looking forward to seeing whether those flaws continue or if she will become the strong, intelligent, wise, and intuitive person she is touted to be. I also discovered this book had been previously published in June of 2019 by Avon (I think) and is now being published by Storm Publishing. Evidently, it was a four-book deal – but I don’t think four books will be nearly enough for me – there must be more.

Lucy Somerville eloped with Charlie Lawrence ten years earlier because her family was dead-set against the match. They loved each other, but one cannot live on love alone and when her father and family disowned her and refused to provide her dowry, things got tight and tough because Charlie didn’t have money either. Lucy was just happy to escape a vile family. However, lately, Charlie had been away more, moody, withdrawn, and his temper more volatile. Lucy wants them to grow closer again, but doesn’t know how to make it happen – and then – there will be no chance for it to happen because Charlie lies in the morgue and a very bad man has begun to accost Lucy. What in the world had Charlie gotten himself into? There is also another man who makes an appearance at Charlie’s death. He SAYS Charlie was his only lead in the case he is investigating – but can she trust him? Time will tell.

Phineas (Phin) Stone is from a successful gentry family and doesn’t want to go into one of the traditional roles for ‘lesser’ sons. No military or clergy for him – so he read law – but found he liked investigating and was really good at it. With insurance companies paying large rewards for discovering the whereabouts of items they’ve insured and paid claims on – or for investigating and keeping them from paying out for fraudulent claims – Phin is quite a wealthy fellow.

For me, Lucy was all over the place in the book and I had to question her judgment. I know she came from a family that made her distrustful – I can see that – but – after all of the gosh-awful things they did to her, she trusts them again and begins to distrust Phin. Anyway, Phin is searching for 3 stolen sapphires and Charlie was his lead to finding them. As Phin and Lucy work together to find out what happened and where the sapphires might be, they draw closer – until Lucy, again, hares off on her own. Can they solve the case and find the sapphires? What will happen with that nasty villain who keeps cropping up? Is Phin trustworthy? Is her family trustworthy? You’ll just have to read this nail-biting book to find out.

I enjoyed the book and will tell you I am looking forward to the next one. I will also mention one thing that bothered me about Lucy and it probably didn’t bother anyone else, so take it for what it is worth. This may be a tad of a spoiler, so, if you don’t want to see it, stop reading here. (view spoiler)[I liked that Lucy wanted to share the reward with the investors – she didn’t have to and it was a nice gesture. However, she didn’t offer any part of the reward to Mary – who was with her every step of the way, and she delighted in beating Phin to the reward and didn’t share with him either. So, for me, that detracts from her character. (hide spoiler)]

This was a very enjoyable read and I would read it again. BTW – I loved the play on Phileas’s name in the title.