Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess!
I requested to participate in the Book Blast as a way to celebrate my love of the #LadyDarby series! I had originally thought this was a bonefide blog tour and Ms Bruno helped me get into touch with the author Ms Huber. I was truly blessed as the author and publisher surprised me with a complimentary bound manuscript copy of ‘As Death Draws Near’ of which will be alighting on my blog in short order, as I’ve spent the past week reading and blogging my ruminative thoughts on behalf of the series! Today I am sharing my joy of the series overall, leading up to my final review for the #LadyDarby series thus far published in print!
Why I originally wanted to read the Lady Darby series:
I, must admit, it’s wicked delightful to find such a riveting Cosy Historical Mystery series – for me, personally one of the attractions to reading the Lady Darby series is the Gothic undertones, the lush settings of its locales in the Highlands of Scotland, but moreso to the point for me is the style of how the stories are being penned! They are blissfully written without the blights of vulgarity and at the heart of the stories, is this beautifully engaging romance between two determinedly independent lead characters: Lady (Kiera) Darby and Mr (Sebastian) Gage!
I was smitten about the series at first glance – when I first read the synopsis for The Anatomist’s Wife, I had suspicion right then & there that I would be soon treated to a series that would capture my mind & heart! There was simply something about it – the premise was such a curiously refreshing spin on the genre’s offerings!
I was wicked happy when I caught sight of these lovelies at my local library – as I truly did read this series by borrowing the books whilst blogging my thoughts upon them! It was a blessing to finally give back the love I had originally captured through reading about Lady Darby two years ago – if I could inspire new readers to take a chance on this series, the circle was truly complete for me! One of the things that stands out immediately is how Huber crafts the continuity of the series – in each installment, you gather small pieces or clues you will find re-occur or become more important in successive stories in sequence! She knits together such a finely envisioned series, you cannot help but spend time inside the breadth of what she’s left behind for us to enjoy!
As Death Draws Near Book Blast (Series Notes)
Subtitle: A Lady Darby Mystery
July 1831. In the midst of their idyllic honeymoon in England’s Lake District, Kiera and Gage’s seclusion is soon interrupted by a missive from her new father-in-law. A deadly incident involving a distant relative of the Duke of Wellington has taken place at an abbey south of Dublin, Ireland, and he insists that Kiera and Gage look into the matter.
Intent on discovering what kind of monster could murder a woman of the cloth, the couple travel to Rathfarnham Abbey school. Soon a second nun is slain in broad daylight near a classroom full of young girls. With the sinful killer growing bolder, the mother superior would like to send the students home, but the growing civil unrest in Ireland would make the journey treacherous.
Before long, Kiera starts to suspect that some of the girls may be hiding a sinister secret. With the killer poised to strike yet again, Kiera and Gage must make haste and unmask the fiend, before their matrimonial bliss comes to an untimely end…
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9780425277720
on 5th July, 2016
The Lady Darby Mysteries:
The Anatomist’s Wife | No.1 | (see Review)
Mortal Arts | No.2 | (see Review)
A Grave Matter | No.3 | (see Review)
A Study in Death | No.4 | (see Review)
A Pressing Engagement | No.4.5 (e-novella) | Synopsis
As Death Draws Near | No.5 | Synopsis | Happy #PubDay 5th of July, 2016
Published By: Berkley Prime Crime (@BerkleyMystery)
imprint of Berkley Publishing (@BerkleyPub)
via Penguin Random House (@penguinrandom)
About Anna Lee Huber
Anna Lee Huber is the Award-Winning and National Bestselling Author of the Lady Darby Mystery Series. She was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. From a young age, her imagination was boundless. She spent her summers with her brothers and sister playing Star Wars, wearing snow boots and her mother's old nightgowns while swinging plastic bats as light-sabers, and The A-Team hanging off the riding lawn mower (what else were they supposed to use for the van?). In the fourth grade, she penned her first story, and she’s been writing ever since.
Anna attended college in Music City USA-Nashville, Tennessee, where she met her husband while acting in a school production of Our Town. They married just before she graduated summa cum laude from Lipscomb University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and a minor in Psychology. She now pens the award-winning Lady Darby historical mystery series for Berkley Publishing. Her debut novel, The Anatomist’s Wife, has won and been nominated for numerous awards, including a Daphne du Maurier Award and two 2013 RITA® Awards.
Anna is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society, International Thriller Writers, and Romance Writers of America. She currently lives in Indiana with her family, and when not hard at work on her next novel, she enjoys reading, singing, travel, and spending time with her family.
C.A. Gray is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor (NMD), with a primary care practice in Tucson, AZ. She has always been captivated by the power of a good story, fictional or otherwise, which is probably why she loves holistic medicine: a patient’s physical health is invariably intertwined with his or her life story, and she believes that the one can only be understood in context with the other.