Murder in Masquerade
-
- $21.99
Publisher Description
Extra, extra, read all about it! Countess turned advice columnist Amelia Amesbury finds herself playing the role of sleuth when a night at the theatre turns deadly.
Victorian Countess Amelia Amesbury’s secret hobby, writing an advice column for a London penny paper, has gotten her into hot water before. After all, Amelia will do whatever it takes to help a reader in need. But now, handsome marquis Simon Bainbridge desperately requires her assistance. His beloved younger sister, Marielle, has written Amelia's Lady Agony column seeking advice on her plans to elope with a man her family does not approve of. Determined to save his sister from a scoundrel and the family from scandal, Simon asks Amelia to dissuade Marielle from the ill-advised gambit.
But when the scoundrel makes an untimely exit after a performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto, Amelia realizes there’s much more at stake than saving a young woman’s reputation from ruin. It’s going to take more than her letter-writing skills to help the dashing marquis, mend the familial bond, and find the murderer. Luckily, solving problems is her specialty!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Countess and undercover advice columnist Amelia Amesbury returns for Winters's underwhelming sequel to Murder in Postscript. When Amelia, who writes a column as Lady Agony for a pulpy newspaper in Victorian London, receives an anonymous letter from a woman who's father disapproves of her impending marriage, she clocks the author immediately. It's Lady Marielle Bainbridge, sister of Simon Bainbridge, a hunky object of Amelia's affection who's recently told her that he fears Marielle will run away with the family's former stable manager, George Davies. Simon and his father believe that George, a gambler, is after Marielle for her money, so Lady Agony advises her to drop their proposed elopement. Then, after receiving another letter asking how to say goodbye to a loved one, Amelia discovers George murdered in an alleyway while she's out with Simon and Marielle one evening. Once again thrust into the middle of a whodunit, Amelia asks herself if her beloved Simon might be capable of violence? Or is an unknown killer zeroing in on the Bainbridge family? Unfortunately, the sleuthing is limp and undermotivated, and Winters provides little in the way of memorable historical detail. Readers drawn to the premise would be better served by Kathleen Bailey's Olivia Penn series.