Borrowed Book By: My local library has always been quite keenly astute on forthcoming releases by authors whose books wink at me from the card catalogue, whenever I am seeking a new read within a genre I happen to have a penchant attachment. Cosy mysteries have always been knitted into my heart, and although I honestly cannot remember exactly if the library purchased the Lady Darby book series off a request of mine OR if they were requested by another patron, all I can simply say is that I felt immeasurably blessed that the first two novels of the Lady Darby mysteries were at my library! I did make enquiries on behalf of this series to be continued to be added to the library as forthcoming titles release henceforth forward!
As this series is a part of a personal quest to read Serial Fiction Library Finds, I was not compensated for this review nor was I obliged to share my thoughts on behalf of this novel or the Lady Darby Mysteries.
On how we left Lady Darby & Mr Gage in A Grave Matter:
From the very beginning, I was smitten with the idea of Lady Darby and Mr Gage as a true partnership of intellectual minds who were both naturally inclined to sleuth. Watching them grown closer together with each new story I was reading, was a happiness without measure, as it truly knitted together so very organically from how Huber approached disclosing their connective relationship. Circumstances would thrust them together out of dire situations where lives were at risk and mysteries needed to become resolved post haste.
This was one of my favourites of the series, simply because Huber allowed us a proper pause from the cardinal focus of sleuthing, to walk alongside Kiera and Gage – seeing exactly what was causing them the most stress in sorting out how they fit together and why that was presenting such a conflict as well. Concurrent to their difficulties in sorting out their feelings for each other, there was a greater scope of depth surrounding what was causing a lot of strife for Kiera and her brother Trevor.
Aside from the robbery at the graveyard, you would speculate A Grave Matter also spoke of the grave matters surrounding the heart, mind and subconscious state of the Darby siblings. Lady Darby and Trevor never had a talking out after her husband died; never addressed the guilt Trevor had from not being a better brother nor the anguish she has felt through the aftermath. There are moments in life that can undermine your progress forward if the past is not dealt with to such an extent as to not repeat itself through tortured memory. Better to talk things out, than to let their echoes fester and plague you til the day you can no longer handle their presence.
Kiera has struggled with her psychological well-being since we first met her, as she did not live during a time where society would treat her with kindness or compassionate understanding. They’d rather seek out every way they could riddle her with judgements spun out of hearsay or fear. Part of her healing was forestalled because she had trouble accepting the assistance of those who dearly cared for her happiness. She is closed-off to most emotionally attempting to control everyone’s perception of her, but the disservice is to forsake her process to heal and recovery a measure of joy by living a life removed from her past.
-quoted from my review of A Grave Matter
I truly loved the ending chapters of the third Lady Darby novel, because at long last, I was treated to a private conversation where Lady Darby & Gage finally at long last are forevermore now known as ‘Kiera & Sebastian’! They followed their hearts, they owned their individual truths and they elected to take the risk to join together for the sake of true love!
A Study in Death
Subtitle: A Lady Darby Mystery
Scotland, 1831. After a tumultuous courtship complicated by three deadly inquiries, Lady Kiera Darby is thrilled to have found both an investigative partner and a fiancé in Sebastian Gage. But with her well-meaning—and very pregnant—sister planning on making their wedding the event of the season, Kiera could use a respite from the impending madness.
Commissioned to paint the portrait of Lady Drummond, Kiera is saddened when she recognizes the pain in the baroness’s eyes. Lord Drummond is a brute, and his brusque treatment of his wife forces Kiera to think of the torment caused by her own late husband.
Kiera isn’t sure how to help, but when she finds Lady Drummond prostrate on the floor, things take a fatal turn. The physician called to the house and Lord Drummond appear satisfied to rule her death natural, but Kiera is convinced that poison is the real culprit.
Now, armed only with her knowledge of the macabre and her convictions, Kiera intends to discover the truth behind the baroness’s death—no matter what, or who, stands in her way…
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9780425281246
Series: Lady Darby Mysteries
Also in this series: The Anatomist's Wife, Mortal Arts, A Grave Matter
on 5th July, 2016
Pages: 336
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 | Synopsis
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)
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Serial Fiction Library Finds (Personal)