Julianna Deering
Book Summary: This Traditional British Cozy Mystery gets a Regency Twist: Drew and Madeline Farthering celebrate their six-month anniversary by attending a fancy Regency era costume party. Drew is glad to see Talbot Cummins, an Oxford classmate, and his fiancée, Alice Henley, though many present seem worried about the couple. Everyone's concerns are realized when, at the concluding grand ball, Alice dies of an overdose of cocaine. Tal refuses to believe she took the stuff intentionally, and Drew is determined to find out if her death was an accident or murder. Drew is shocked and disillusioned when the police arrest Tal's father and reveal that the man has been smuggling drugs into the country for the past twenty years. Reeling from the death of his fiancée and the revelation about his father, Tal begs Drew to find out what's going on. Drew, now questioning his own ability to see people as they really are, does so reluctantly, not ready for the secrets he's about to uncover--or the danger he'll bring down on everyone he holds dear.
Review: I really love mysteries. This one starts a little slow for me. It was about 35% in when the story started rolling. So much happens that twists the beginning into a different picture. I found the beginning to be forced to me. I get the Regency part, but all the quoting of Austen was wasted on me. I like a more subtle method. I found the mystery to be interesting and was thinking about who was behind the murders and who was the least obvious. That led me to the real culprit and the how of the second murder was clever. To me the surprise was the undercover agent. That was a nice twits. It is worth reading. The characters were realistically written, this book had a more morose tone and gave a lot of pause for thinking about how fleeting life is. I always love when the truth of the Bible is talked about, although I do not recall as much about Jesus.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Bethany House for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
No comments:
Post a Comment