Lily returns home from an outing to find her father has arrived to stay with her while he visits a London doctor. She’s not best please by this as the man has always found fault with her. However, his presence does cause her to visit old family friends only for her to be drawn into another murder when the patriarch of the family is found dead. While most of the family want to sweep things under a rug, Lily knows that an innocent young man stands to be blamed, so once again she teams up with Captain Hartley and Mr. Page in order to figure out who really is responsible.
This was a great second outing for the mystery series. It builds on the first book and has some great moments of character development. We get to learn a little more about Lily’s past and her relationship with her family. We also get to see her take a few more steps out of mourning for her husband in this story as well as hints that feelings that are beginning to develop. The mystery itself is a good one and worked well. Sadly, Ofelia doesn’t show up until about two thirds of the way through the book, but once present, she’s a addition to the mystery solving team. I really appreciate both the way author has done her research on the time period and the way she avoids many of the stereotypes of the Regency set novel. I’m excited to see where the next book in the series take us. Four out of five stars.
CBR15 Bingo: History – Historical setting where the author has clearly done her research.
