It is May 1900 and London’s social season is in full swing. Cleopatra Fox, Cleo to her friends, has no interest in the rounds of balls and other events that she must attend, so when she is asked to look into a suspicious death at an insalubrious pub, she is thrilled even though she apparently won’t be paid for her work. That she is the lead investigator is at least partly due to the fact that Harry Armitage, the private investigator with whom she often works, is busy with another, paying investigation - and is courting a young lady as well, leaving him with little time. The police suspect suicide, but the dead man was clearly too short to have hanged himself where he was found, and so Cleo already has her first clue…. This is the sixth Cleo Fox cozy, and quite as enjoyable as the five before it. I liked that the potential Cleo/Harry romance is downplayed this time around, as romantic entanglements in cozy mysteries can quickly become wearisome to me. There are a few anachronisms here, for example someone being “tasked to do” something, a modern turn of phrase that I doubt was used in the Victorian London of 1900, but if the reader can overlook such occasional flubs, this is a refreshing series set in a time that has not (yet) been over-explored in the cozy genre. Recommended, but it’s best to start with the first book (“Murder at the Mayfair Hotel”) and carry on from there! ( )

Cleopatra Fox discovers another possible murder for investigation. Once she convinces her uncle that private investigator Harry Armitage has a girlfriend and she understands that she cannot be involved with him, he allows her to help him on occasion. A business man is found hanged in the Crown and Anchor, but former DI Hobart suspects murder since the victim was too short to hang himself given the height of the chair he supposedly used. The series is becoming formulaic. Cleopatra denies any attraction to Harry Armitage, finds a murder case to investigate, defies her Uncle, but agrees to attend the activities and ball of the London season. Floyd and Jonathan become rivals for the same actress. The Mayfair Hotel adds a public dining room and has a grand opening orchestrated by Floyd and hotel maid . ( )