October 26, 2020
Wilde’s spirited fourth Regency mystery (after 2019’s And Dangerous to Know) takes Rosalind Thorne, who offers society women discreet investigations, to England’s fen country to help plan her friend Louisa Winterbourne’s wedding. Louisa’s titled cousin, the Duke of Casselmaine, who was once Rosalind’s suitor, promptly renews his suit, but Rosalind isn’t sure she wants the constraints of a high-society marriage. As Rosalind vacillates, the Winterbournes’ neighbor persuades her to investigate the recent death of her brother, William Corbyn, the victim of an apparent shooting accident. Rosalind comes to suspect foul play. William was an investor in Casselmaine’s ambitious efforts to drain the marshy land around their properties; did problems with the project’s funding give Casselmaine a motive for murder? His reclusive mother drops disturbing hints about his past, and a key witness has disappeared from the district, complicating Rosalind’s task. Despite an unwieldy conclusion, Wilde does a good job balancing accurate period detail with a look at such matters as the difference between attraction and compatibility, and the weight of family obligations. Lovers of Regency mysteries and smart female sleuths will be eager for more. Agent: Lucienne Diver, Knight Agency.
Starred review from September 1, 2020
Rosalind Thorne continues her battle to negotiate the intricate world of the British haut ton. Although, as the daughter of a baronet, Rosalind owns a place among England's elite, her father, a forger, and her sister, a courtesan, have abandoned her. She survives by making herself useful to others in her social set and living on the small change they offer for solving their problems. But some problems are too weighty even for Rosalind. Her friend Louisa Winterbourne begs her to discover the truth behind the death of William Corbyn, killed on his way to a duel with Peter Mirabeau, his sister Helen's fiance. The circumstances are murky. No one knows why Corbyn would have challenged his friend to a duel, how he came to be killed before the two contestants even met, or what happened to his second, Bartolemew Vaughn, who was supposed to protect him. And Rosalind's not in the country to solve mysteries but to celebrate Louisa's wedding and reexamine her relationship with Louisa's brother Devon, who became Duke of Casselmaine after the death of their older brother, Hugh. Is her warm friendship with Devon enough to sustain a marriage that would take her out of London, away from her friends, and thrust her into a social world where every glance, every smile, every unguarded look would be held up to the scrutiny of vultures like poisonous Lady Pennyworth and social-climbing Mrs. Vaughn? Would the pleasures of Devon's company and the luxuries of life in Cassel House compensate for the moods of mercurial Catherine Winterbourne, Devon's mother? As Rosalind struggles with her own questions, she becomes increasingly compelled by Helen's, and her inquiries lead to revelations that leave no family unscathed. Complex social networks spark an equally complex puzzle.
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