A Woman of Consequence
The Investigations of Miss Dido Kent
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4.1 • 14 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
"If Jane Austen had written Miss Marple, she would have been Dido Kent, the inquisitive spinster."--Kirkus (starred review)
A Woman of Consequence, the third installment in Anna Dean's charming mystery series, opens with a visit to the ruins of an Abbey where Penelope Lambe, suffers a bad fall from the ancient stone steps. Before she slips into unconsciousness, Penelope manages to say, 'I saw her—It was her.' Soon people are certain that she saw the Grey Nun, a ghost reputed to walk the abbey's ruins. Miss Dido Kent, however, does not approve of ghosts. Disregarding everyone else's assumptions, and endeavoring to take her mind off the troubles of her family, Dido turns her energy toward solving the mystery. But events start to seem more sinister when a human skeleton is found at the abbey. Is Miss Lambe's accident connected to this discovery? Everyone is relying on Dido to find out. A captivating continuation of the Dido Kent series: rich in suspense, historical detail, and most of all, characters.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1806, Dean's pleasing third mystery featuring Miss Dido Kent (after 2011's A Gentleman of Fortune) showcases the amateur sleuth's most outstanding characteristic her curiosity. From Badleigh Vicarage, Dido writes to her sister, Eliza, of Penelope Lambe's falling and hitting her head at ruined Madderstone Abbey, where the "sweet-tempered, good-natured girl" had gone in the hope of getting a glimpse of the abbey ghost known as the Grey Nun. Penelope's claim to have seen the Grey Nun shortly before losing consciousness leads Dido to investigate Madderstone for herself. The discovery in a drained pool on the abbey grounds of a human skeleton raises the stakes. Dean smoothly integrates a wealth of historical detail, especially regarding the rights of women and the inheritance laws in effect in the early 19th century. Well-drawn secondary characters, from Dido's dour sister-in-law to an opium-eating poet, lend color.
