Barbara's rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Series: Lily Adler Mystery #5
Publication Date: 8/20/24
Period: Regency London
Number of Pages: 317
For the last couple of years, Lily Adler has been up to her pretty eyeballs mourning her husband, being courted by and rejecting various suitors, and solving murder mysteries. Yes, that is quite a varied set of activities there! Lily performs discrete inquiries, and the key word there is discrete because if the word got out into society, she would be ruined. Lily believes in finding justice for people who have been wronged therefore, she is inclined to help young Miss Sarah Forrest when the young lady asks her. However, Miss Forrest's fiancé is accompanying her, and unbeknownst to Miss Forrest, he threatens Lily with exposure if she doesn't help. Well, that will never do!
When, a few days later, that same fiancé is accused of murder, he swears he is innocent and begs Lily to help. Life would be easier to let him be hanged, but, what if he is telling the truth? Lily's sense of justice and fair play won't let her walk away without at least looking into it.
Goodness, what a tangled web Lily and her friends uncover. There is not just one murder, but several, along with attempted murders, poisonings, desertion, impersonation, and more. It is a very convoluted search for the truth and young Miss Forrest's problem seems to be at the heart of all of it. Can Lily and her friends solve it before Lily's life is forfeit? Even if she solves it, can they find proof?
This was a compelling mystery with many suspects, red herrings, unsympathetic victims, and some victims that will have you holding your breath to see if they survive. Another thing I liked about this particular book is that the author managed to move the romance between Lily and Captain Hartley forward significantly without impacting the mystery. Personally, I MUST have some romance to go along with my mysteries and I was about ready to give up on the series because it seemed that wouldn't happen.
It was nice to see that several supporting cast members had significant roles in this mystery even though it was Lily who put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. I really like Captain Hartley's sister, Amelia, and was glad to see her featured along with Lady Carroway and Constable Page and his lovely family.
Should you choose to read this book, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. Happy Reading!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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