Nice to visit Ella Shane's world again. A lot of this book is about the shifting situations as Preston marries Mrs G, Ella and Gil get formally engaged, and Hetty finally finds a man that respects what she does after she goes to extreme lengths to prove herself. The mystery itself was really two easily predicted ones. However, as I find I'm not as interested in the mystery as I am the characters, I was really satisfied with this one. Not sure if there will be a fourth but there's a lovely denouement if not, along with somewhere to go if there is. ( )

I received this book from the Kensington Cozy Club. It's the third book in the series, and I haven't read the first two. It can be read as a stand-alone but there are quite a few characters whose relationship to Ella and Tom aren't fully explained in this book and there were times I was confused as to who was who.

The plot is a bit slower than I'm used to. I'm not sure if that's because of the historical setting.

This is set at a time when women had fewer rights than they do now. Service (a la Downton Abbey) still exists and most young women must worry that they'll be dismissed without a character reference and be unable to secure future reputable work.

I understand Ella's wish to continue her career--but honestly, if the only sticking point is whether she'll do 1 or 2 additional runs in New York--have they ever heard of compromise? Couldn't they agree to alternate years? One year do 2 and the next year only 1. I was a bit dismayed that it again took a "life or death" issue to get them to realize they do love each other and don't want to live without each other. It seems to be a formulaic part of plots these days and it's getting old. ( )

1900, historical-fiction, historical-research, history-and-culture, family-dynamics, family, friendship, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, cozy-mystery*****

I was hoping to find this next in series!
What a wonderful story that really has it all: a mystery, historical insights into class and religious distinctions, and discriminations, misogyny, and romance.
The characters are real (the good, the bad, and the disgusting), Ella is an opera singer with talent and from a mixed religious heritage (and a large extended family) from NYC, Gil is a barrister and a duke from the Highlands, the victim was a bounder and lech who got what he deserved. Let the sleuthing begin! Very enjoyable and well written. Loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )