Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord
A Mystery
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Bridgerton meets Agatha Christie in Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord, a dazzling first entry in a captivating new Regency-era mystery series with a feminist spin from Celeste Connally.
London, 1815. Lady Petra Forsyth, daughter of the Earl of Holbrook, has made a shocking proclamation. After losing her beloved fiancé in an accident three years earlier, she announces in front of London’s loosest lips that she will never marry. A woman of independent means—and rather independent ways—Petra sees no reason to cede her wealth and freedom to any man now that the love of her life is gone. Instead, she plans to continue enjoying the best of society without any expectations.
But when ballroom gossip suggests that a longtime friend has died of a fit due to her “melancholia” while in the care of a questionable physician, Petra vows to use her status to dig deeper. Just as Petra has reason to believe her friend is alive, a shocking murder proves more danger is afoot than she thought. And the more determined Lady Petra becomes in uncovering the truth, the more her own headstrong actions and desire for independence are used against her, putting her own freedom—and possibly her life—in jeopardy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This delightful Regency mystery series launch from Connally, a pseudonym for S.C. Perkins (the Ancestry Detective Mystery series), draws readers into the life of Lady Petra Forsyth, whose unconventional behavior and affinity for sleuthing is frowned upon by most of her acquaintances and, especially, her nosy uncle Tobias. After her fiancé dies and her dearest friend, Duncan, decamps to mainland Europe to work for his grandfather, Petra announces at age 24 that she'll remain single, shocking the public and moving her contemporaries to label her a premature spinster. Despite the undue scrutiny, Petra takes an interest in some of the women in her social circle, particularly after she learns that Gwen, wife of Lord Milford, has died suddenly in a physician's care. When Gwen's footman swears he's seen the woman days after her supposed death, Petra starts digging, and soon uncovers a growing network of wives who've disappeared from society's upper crust under mysterious circumstances. Soon Duncan reappears in England, arousing Petra's suspicions further, and her determination to get to the bottom of things may put her own life in danger. Petra is marvelously drawn—an easy-to-love, instantly memorable heroine—and Connally equips her with a brisk, page-turning adventure. This is catnip for historical suspense fans. Agents: Chrstina Hogrebe and Jess Errera, Jane Rotrosen Agency.
