1786 Lady Anne Addison is staying in Bath where she is staying with her mother. She becomes aware of a medium who is the talk of Bath and visits her with a couple of friends. Not believing in the mystical she is suspicious of the woman. Then unfortunately a death occurs.
I have enjoyed the previous books in the series, but I found Lady Anne this time to be too unfeeling, and irritating. A very slow paced story and not enough of a mystery for me.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Another simply delightful entry in the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries series. Not much of Lord Darkefell this time around, as Lady Anne is in Bath with her mother and grandmother preparing for their upcoming marriage. But trust her to get into just as much trouble as ever, to be as curious – or shall we just be honest and say nosy? – and to go to any lengths to find the truth and protect those she cares for. Always such fun to see how she pushes the boundaries of the constraints on women in her society. She’s smart, capable, loyal, determined and not afraid to speak her mind. As for Lord Darkefell, even though he is absent for much of the story, he is most definitely not absent in Lady Anne’s heart, mind, and very warm memories. Finally, the combination of Victoria Hamilton’s excellent writing and Danielle Cohen’s fantastic narration make for a most enjoyable audiobook. Cannot wait to see what the next book in the series brings! ( )

Mystics, marriage and menace!

Lady Anne Addison is in Bath staying with her mother, Lady Barbara, Countess of Harecross. Anne is preparing for her marriage to the Marquess, Lord Darkefell. Although she's reluctant to make her engagement known because she doesn't want to become the focus of Bath society' much to her mother's disgust. There's enough gossip circulating around town with unsuspected people suddenly becoming engaged. Anne doesn't want to join the list. And there seems to be a lingering thought that marriage will mean surrendering her freedom, that she might become something less. Despite Darkefell's reassurance.
The presence of a mystic, whose become society's latest fad, comes to Anne's notice. Her dearest friend Lydia Bestwick, wife of Lord John, Darkefell’s younger brother. Lydia appears to have fallen under her sway. Lady Anne is determined to expose the woman as a charlatan. However she does seem to know some disturbing information about Anne.
As always Anne is headstrong, focused sometimes blind to people's reactions. She charges in, sometimes to her own detriment. Lady Anne without Darkefell ... mmm I admit to missing the cut and thrust of their relationship. Still! Fortunately the redoubtable Mr. Boatin, Darkefell's secretary has come to town to attend to business for the Marquess, to look into renting a house that will become Darkefell and Anne's Bath base, and to attend to some business of his own.
There's complex issues behind story. Anne has quite a time sorting through things. These are dark times and scandalous secrets are in danger of being exposed. The plot wound down a tortuous track, but once on the path all the rest fell into place.
A solid Gothic read that thoroughly intrigued me, even if Darkeville, whom I adore, is mostly out of the picture.

A Beyond the Page ARC via NetGalley ( )

cosy-mystery, England, murder-investigation, 19th-century, historical-fiction****

The characters are realistic and engaging (for the most part) but the pace of this well plotted cozy seems excruciatingly slow. I confess that the stilted behavior and attitudes of the "old guard" of Bath society holds little appeal for me but the storyline predictably needs that kind of background filler to make better sense of the story to come. The sleuthing is good, too. The publisher's blurb is good at providing the hook that we need to be attracted to a new book. Bottom line is that I liked it more than average but no dancing in the streets.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )