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Synopsis:
Scotland, 1830. Lady Kiera Darby is no stranger to intrigue—in fact, it seems to follow wherever she goes. After her foray into murder investigation, Kiera must journey to Edinburgh with her family so that her pregnant sister can be close to proper medical care. But the city is full of many things Kiera isn’t quite ready to face: the society ladies keen on judging her, her fellow investigator—and romantic entanglement—Sebastian Gage, and ultimately, another deadly mystery.
Kiera’s old friend Michael Dalmay is about to be married, but the arrival of his older brother—and Kiera’s childhood art tutor—William, has thrown everything into chaos. For ten years Will has been missing, committed to an insane asylum by his own father. Kiera is sympathetic to her mentor’s plight, especially when rumors swirl about a local girl gone missing. Now Kiera must once again employ her knowledge of the macabre and join forces with Gage in order to prove the innocence of a beloved family friend—and save the marriage of another…
One of my favorite genres is historical mystery and great historical mysteries with original plots are hard to come by. Naturally, I was excited when I stumbled upon this series. I enjoyed the first book, The Anatomists wife, and being strongly compelled to always finish a series, come hell or high water, I read this book next.
Despite the mystery being predictable for me I still enjoyed it. Huber describes the atmosphere and locations so well you can get lost in historic Scotland. Main character Lady Darby continues to develop and a tiny bit of confidence in her abilities begins to show through.
One thing to remember with this series is that it isn’t fluffy and warm. Lady Darby has endured trauma and is trying to find herself meanwhile continually getting pulled into murder investigations like a Scottish Nancy Drew.
If you like old fashioned whodunit’s, the Lady Darby series is for you. They are very clean so I have no problem recommending them to high schoolers and young adults. Happy reading! 📚
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