Download or read book A Deadly Inheritance written by Drac Von Stoller and published by Drac Von Stoller. This book was released on 2024-08-12 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A chill hung heavy in the air of Willington Castle, seeping from the very stones of the ancient building. It was a chill that had nothing to do with the late October weather, but rather with the impending storm brewing within the castle's walls. The sprawling estate, nestled in the misty hills of rural England, had stood for centuries, a silent witness to generations of Willington family drama. But never had it seen a night quite like this. Sir Edward Willington, the patriarch of the family, lay sprawled on the thick Persian rug in his study. His lifeless figure, eyes wide with terror, hinted at a final, horrific realization. The once-proud man, his face contorted in a grotesque mask of fear, was a stark contrast to the opulence that surrounded him. Leather-bound books lined the walls, their spines gleaming in the flickering firelight. A half-empty glass of brandy sat on the mahogany desk, the amber liquid catching the light like a trapped tear. Detective Inspector Marcus Thorne stood over the body, his face impassive. At fifty-three, Thorne was a veteran of the force, his salt-and-pepper hair and lined face testament to years of solving gruesome crimes. But there was something unsettling about this scene, a sense of calculated malice that chilled him to the bone. Beside him, the young and eager Detective Sergeant Emily Carter looked visibly shaken, her bright blue eyes wide with a mix of horror and fascination. "Looks like a clean shot, Inspector," Carter murmured, her voice trembling slightly. "Right through the heart." Thorne nodded, his gaze fixed on the body. "No forced entry, no signs of struggle. Looks like a classic case of someone close to the victim." His deep voice resonated in the quiet room, each word weighted with years of experience. A soft gasp echoed through the room. Lady Eleanor Willington, Sir Edward's wife of thirty years, stood in the doorway. Her face was a mask of carefully cultivated grief, but her eyes held a flicker of something else – a cold calculation that belied her outward sorrow. She was a striking woman in her early fifties, her silver-streaked dark hair pulled back in an elegant chignon. "Someone close to Edward?" she echoed, her voice laced with feigned disbelief. "That's impossible. He was a kind and generous man. Beloved by all." Her hand fluttered to her throat, adorned with a string of flawless pearls. Thorne's lips curved into a wry smile. "We'll see about that, Lady Willington," he replied, his voice low and measured. He'd seen enough high-society murders to know that beneath the veneer of respectability often lurked the darkest of motives. As the night wore on, the castle became a hive of activity. Forensic teams combed the study, their cameras flashing like silent lightning in the somber room. Outside, the wind howled, rattling the ancient windows and adding to the atmosphere of unease that permeated the castle. Thorne and Carter set up a makeshift incident room in the castle's expansive library. The walls were lined with centuries of books, their leather bindings a silent audience to the unfolding drama. As they pinned up photos and notes on a hastily erected evidence board, Thorne couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing something crucial. "Sir," Carter said, breaking the silence. "I've been going through Sir Edward's financial records. There's something odd here." She handed Thorne a stack of papers, her brow furrowed in concentration. Thorne leafed through the documents, his eyes narrowing. "Multiple large withdrawals over the past six months. All in cash. What was old Willington up to?" Before Carter could respond, there was a commotion in the hallway. Lord Richard Willington, Sir Edward's eldest son, burst into the library, his face flushed with anger and what Thorne suspected was a generous amount of whiskey. "What's the meaning of this?" Richard demanded, his words slightly slurred. "Why haven't you arrested the murderer yet? It's obvious who did it!" Thorne raised an eyebrow. "Is it, Lord Willington? Perhaps you'd care to enlighten us." Richard's eyes darted around the room, a hint of panic breaking through his bravado. "Well... it must have been one of the servants. Probably that new gardener. He always looked shifty to me." Carter exchanged a glance with Thorne. They both recognized the desperate attempt at misdirection for what it was. "We'll be sure to look into that," Thorne said smoothly. "In the meantime, Lord Willington, perhaps you could tell us where you were at the time of your father's death?" Richard's face paled. "I... I was in the billiard room. Alone. But I didn't do it! I loved my father!" As Richard stormed out, Thorne turned to Carter. "Well, Sergeant, it seems we have our work cut out for us. A house full of suspects, each with their own secrets. And somewhere among them, a killer." Carter nodded, her eyes gleaming with determination. "Where do we start, sir?" Thorne looked out the window, where the first light of dawn was beginning to break over the misty grounds. "We start Sergeant, by digging. Every family has its skeletons, and I have a feeling the Willingtons have more than most." As the new day dawned, Willington Castle stood silent and brooding, its ancient stones holding tight to the secrets of the night. But secrets, like bodies, have a way of surfacing. And for Detective Inspector Marcus Thorne, the hunt for a killer was just beginning. The following days were a whirlwind of interviews and investigations. The Willington family, a sprawling clan of greedy relatives, was a veritable minefield of suspicion. Each member seemed to harbor their own dark secrets, their eyes darting nervously whenever Thorne entered a room. Lord Richard Willington, the eldest son, was a study in entitled arrogance. At forty-five, he had spent his entire life waiting to inherit, his impatience growing with each passing year. Thorne found him in the conservatory, nursing a glass of expensive scotch despite the early hour. "I don't see why this is necessary," Richard sneered, his manicured hands fidgeting with his silk tie. "My father's killer is obvious. It's that gardener, I tell you." Thorne leaned back in his chair, his piercing gaze never leaving Richard's face. "And yet, Lord Willington, the gardener has a solid alibi. Unlike yourself." Richard's face flushed an ugly red. "Are you accusing me? I'm the victim here! I've lost my father, my inheritance is in limbo, and now I'm being hounded by the police!" "Interesting that you mention the inheritance before your father," Thorne noted quietly. Before Richard could respond, the conservatory door burst open. Lord Thomas Willington, the younger son, stumbled in. At thirty-eight, Thomas was the black sheep of the family, his once-handsome face ravaged by years of hard living. "Dickie!" Thomas slurred, ignoring Thorne completely. "I need money. The bookies are after me again."

Download or read book Deadly Inheritance written by Simon Beaufort and published by Severn House Large Print. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Murder, intrigue and marriage in the Welsh Marches of old . . . - When Sir Geoffrey's unpopular brother, Henry, is murdered, he unwillingly inherits Goodrich Castle in the Welsh Marches. Immediately, his sister pushes him towards a marriage that will provide an heir and stability for the family. But when Geoffrey survives attempts on his own life, he wonders whether they are linked to Henry's death, to his potential brides, or even to the rumoured murder of the Duchess of Normandy, as a Welsh revolt against the English looms.

Download or read book Crown of Blood written by Nicola Tallis and published by Michael O'Mara Books. This book was released on 2016-11-03 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following Lady Jane Grey's journey from the deadly intrigues of her childhood that led inexorably through to her trial and execution, historian Nicola Tallis unravels the grim tapestry of her life along the way.

Download or read book Deadly Inheritance written by Janet Laurence and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Accompanying American heiress Belle Seldon on a visit to her ancestral family home in Somerset, Ursula Grandison soon discovers that the decaying stately Mountstanton House and its inhabitants has many secrets, including a crumbling marriage and a missing dowry. When Ursula discovers the drowned body of the nurserymaid, she is determined to reveal the killer and, in doing so, reveals a tangled web of deception and adultery that threatens the reputation of the house of Mountstanton.

Download or read book The Family Gene written by Joselin Linder and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-03-14 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting medical mystery about a young woman’s quest to uncover the truth about her likely fatal genetic disorder that opens a window onto the exploding field of genomic medicine When Joselin Linder was in her twenties her legs suddenly started to swell. After years of misdiagnoses, doctors discovered a deadly blockage in her liver. Struggling to find an explanation for her unusual condition, Joselin compared the medical chart of her father—who had died from a mysterious disease, ten years prior—with that of an uncle who had died under similarly strange circumstances. Delving further into the past, she discovered that her great-grandmother had displayed symptoms similar to hers before her death. Clearly, this was more than a fluke. Setting out to build a more complete picture of the illness that haunted her family, Joselin approached Dr. Christine Seidman, the head of a group of world-class genetic researchers at Harvard Medical School, for help. Dr. Seidman had been working on her family’s case for twenty years and had finally confirmed that fourteen of Joselin’s relatives carried something called a private mutation—meaning that they were the first known people to experience the baffling symptoms of a brand new genetic mutation. Here, Joselin tells the story of their gene: the lives it claimed and the future of genomic medicine with the potential to save those that remain. Digging into family records and medical history, conducting interviews with relatives and friends, and reflecting on her own experiences with the Harvard doctor, Joselin pieces together the lineage of this deadly gene to write a gripping and unforgettable exploration of family, history, and love. A compelling chronicle of survival and perseverance, The Family Gene is an important story of a young woman reckoning with her father’s death, her own mortality, and her ethical obligations to herself and those closest to her.

Download or read book Fatal Inheritance written by Rachel Rhys and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-06-11 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Get swept away to the enchanting South of France with this “exquisite and shimmering” (Lisa Jewell, New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone) suspenseful historical novel, where perilous secrets lurk under the glitz and glam of seaside wealth. She didn’t have an enemy in the world…until she inherited a fortune. London 1948: Eve Forrester is stuck in a loveless marriage, isolated in her gray and gloomy house when out of the blue, she receives a letter. A wealthy stranger has left her a mysterious inheritance but in order to find out more, she must travel to the glittering French Riviera. There, Eve discovers she has been bequeathed an enchanting villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and suddenly, life could not be more glamorous. But while she rubs shoulders with the rich and famous, challengers to her unexplained fortune begin to emerge—challengers who would love to see Eve gone forever. Alone in paradise, Eve must unlock the story behind her surprise bequest—before her unexpected twist of fate turns deadly… With Rachel Rhys’s “thrilling, seductive, and utterly absorbing” (Paula Hawkins, #1 bestselling author of The Girl on the Train) prose, Fatal Inheritance is an intoxicating story of dysfunctional families and long-hidden secrets, set against the decadence of the Côte d’Azur.

Download or read book The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms written by N. K. Jemisin and published by Orbit. This book was released on 2010-02-25 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After her mother's mysterious death, a young woman is summoned to the floating city of Sky in order to claim a royal inheritance she never knew existed in the first book in this award-winning fantasy trilogy from the NYT bestselling author of The Fifth Season. Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate -- and gods and mortals -- are bound inseparably together.

Download or read book The Inheritance Games written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: OVER 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THE #1 BESTSELLING SERIES! Don't miss this New York Times bestselling "impossible to put down" (Buzzfeed) novel with deadly stakes, thrilling twists, and juicy secrets—perfect for fans of One of Us is Lying and Knives Out. Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why—or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch—and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive. **The games continue in The Hawthorne Legacy, The Final Gambit, and The Brothers Hawthorne!

Download or read book The Inheritance of Orqu dea Divina written by Zoraida Córdova and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Isabel Allende, and Sarah Addison Allen, this is a gorgeously written novel about a family searching for the truth hidden in their past and the power they’ve inherited, from the author of the acclaimed and “giddily exciting” (The New York Times Book Review) Brooklyn Brujas series. The Montoyas are used to a life without explanations. They know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low or empty, or why their matriarch won’t ever leave their home in Four Rivers—even for graduations, weddings, or baptisms. But when Orquídea Divina invites them to her funeral and to collect their inheritance, they hope to learn the secrets that she has held onto so tightly their whole lives. Instead, Orquídea is transformed, leaving them with more questions than answers. Seven years later, her gifts have manifested in different ways for Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly’s daughter, Rhiannon, granting them unexpected blessings. But soon, a hidden figure begins to tear through their family tree, picking them off one by one as it seeks to destroy Orquídea’s line. Determined to save what’s left of their family and uncover the truth behind their inheritance, the four descendants travel to Ecuador—to the place where Orquídea buried her secrets and broken promises and never looked back. Alternating between Orquídea’s past and her descendants’ present, The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is an enchanting novel about what we knowingly and unknowingly inherit from our ancestors, the ties that bind, and reclaiming your power.

Download or read book Deadly Little Scandals written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2019-11-04 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No one is quite who they seem to be in the twisty, soapy, gasp-inducing world of the Debutantes by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, #1 bestselling author of The Inheritance Games. Think of the White Gloves like the Junior League— by way of Skull and Bones. Reluctant debutante Sawyer Taft joined Southern high society for one reason and one reason alone: to identify and locate her biological father. But the answers Sawyer found during her debutante year only left her with more questions and one potentially life-ruining secret. When her cousin Lily ropes her into pledging a mysterious, elite, and all-female secret society called the White Gloves, Sawyer soon discovers that someone in the group's ranks may have the answers she's looking for. Things are looking up . . . until Sawyer and the White Gloves make a disturbing discovery near the family's summer home—and uncover a twisted secret, decades in the making. ** Check out Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s bestselling The Naturals and Inheritance Games series!!

Download or read book Inheritance written by Joe McKinney and published by . This book was released on 2012-10 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **Nominated for the Bram Stoker Award(r) - Superior Achievement in Novel - 2012**Paul Henninger is a rookie cop on San Antonio's troubled East Side, where every night is a war against the gangs and the drug dealers. But Paul has a dark past, and a dark inheritance.The ghost of Martin Henninger has returned to make sure his son, Paul, delivers on his apocalyptic charge, the result of Martin's black magic, and he's killing everyone in his path. With his two worlds colliding, and the body count stacking up, Paul soon finds himself the lead suspect in a series of grisly cult-style killings, and in an emotional standoff between duty, the truth, his wife, and his dead family. Meanwhile, Keith Anderson, San Antonio's best homicide detective, is hot on Paul's heels. His investigation takes him deep into the secrets of Paul's family. But what he finds there just might kill them both."When I started reading Inheritance, my first reaction was one word-WOW! I kept reading, and I was blown away. Police procedural? Yeah. Horror novel? That, too. But most importantly-one helluva novel. Joe tells a roaring good tale, and when you finish it, you'll have a lot to say, but WOW will be the first word out of your mouth."-Rick Hautala, author of Glimpses and Indian Summer"An artful haunting with the gloomy quality of a Terrance Malick crime drama"-Weston Ochse, author of SEAL Team 666"With Inheritance, Joe McKinney delivers a first-rate supernatural thriller with edge-of-your-seat suspense, a high-octane plot, and pitch-black horror. Add to this mix strong characterization and an insider's knowledge of law enforcement, and you have one of the best novels I've read in ages. I loved it!"-Tim Waggoner, author of The Harmony Society and Like Death"Joe McKinney has proven, yet again, that he is a true literary genius. Inheritance is a breath-taking thrill ride masterfully crafted to grip the reader, pulling them deep into the nightmares of its characters with a level of suspense that steals the breath from your lungs. Brilliant!"- Gabrielle Faust, author of Revenge and Eternal Vigilance"Joe McKinney delivers. Inheritance is a brisk, wry and deliriously creepy tale of family secrets and black magic that is guaranteed to get your goat!"-Harry Shannon, author of Dead and Gone and The Hungry

Download or read book Royal Inheritance written by Kate Emerson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-09-24 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new novel in the “wonderfully absorbing” (Library Journal) Secrets of the Tudor Court series, features a tailor’s daughter who suspects she is an illegitimate offspring of King Henry VIII. Audrey Malte is illegitimate, though her beloved father—tailor to King Henry VIII—prefers to call her “merry-begot,” saying there was much joy in her making. Then Audrey visits the royal court with her father, and the whispers start about Audrey’s distinctive Tudor-red hair and the kindness that the king shows her. Did dashing Henry perhaps ask Malte to raise a royal love child? The king’s favor, however, brings Audrey constraint as well as opportunity. Though she holds tender feelings for her handsome music tutor, John Harington, the king is pressuring her to marry into the family of treacherous, land-hungry Sir Richard Southwell. Audrey determines to learn the truth about her birth at last. The answer may give her the freedom to give her heart as she chooses . . . or it could ensnare her deeper in an enemy’s ruthless scheme.

Download or read book The Thornthwaite Inheritance written by Gareth P. Jones and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2010-07-05 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ovid and Lorelli Thornthwaite have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin can remember which act of attempted murder came first. But whoever struck first, trying to take each other's lives is simply what they do. Until one day a lawyer arrives at their house to take stock of its contents, and his accompanying son attracts their attention. Soon a new battle evolves - one in which the twins have to work together to solve the mystery of their parents' deaths. Can Lorelli and Ovid overcome their old animosities, and will they ever get to finish that game of chess?

Download or read book The Hawthorne Legacy written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THE #1 BESTSELLING SERIES! Intrigue, riches, and romance abound in this thrilling sequel to the beloved bestselling The Inheritance Games The Inheritance Games ended with a bombshell, and now heiress Avery Grambs has to pick up the pieces and find the man who might hold the answers to all of her questions—including why Tobias Hawthorne left his entire fortune to Avery, a virtual stranger, rather than to his own daughters or grandsons. Thanks to a DNA test, Avery knows she’s not a Hawthorne by blood, but clues pile up hinting at a deeper connection to the family than she had ever imagined. As the mystery grows and the plot thickens, Grayson and Jameson, two of the enigmatic and magnetic Hawthorne grandsons, continue to pull Avery in different directions. And there are threats lurking around every corner, as adversaries emerge who will stop at nothing to see Avery out of the picture—by any means necessary. With nonstop action, aspirational jet-setting, Knives Out-like family intrigue, swoonworthy romance, and billions of dollars hanging in the balance, The Hawthorne Legacy will thrill Jennifer Lynn Barnes fans and new readers alike. **The games continue in The Final Gambit and The Brothers Hawthorne, available now, and Games Untold, available for preorder! And don’t miss the start of a thrilling new series set in the world of the Inheritance Games, The Grandest Game, available for preorder now!

Download or read book A Deadly Endowment written by Alyssa Maxwell and published by Kensington Books. This book was released on 2021-12-28 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Agatha Christie meets Downton Abbey…exemplary.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY To make ends meet, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, have decided to open up Foxwood Hall to guided public tours. Not everyone is pleased about it—even to the point of committing murder . . . The lean times following the Great War continue to require creative solutions for England's noble class. But Lady Phoebe’s proposal to open up the Renshaw estate to guided tours for additional income strikes many in the family as a “vulgar enterprise.” Phoebe’s grandfather, the Earl of Wroxly, however, reluctantly concedes the necessity. Their first tour group consists of members of the Historical Society, a magazine writer, and a flock of students. It’s a large group for Phoebe, her sister Amelia, and Eva to manage, and when the widow Arvina Bell goes missing, Eva goes in search of her—only to find her in the library, strangled with a silken drapery cord. The schoolchildren are promptly sent home, but the members of the Historical Society—many of whom also wandered off at times—remain for interrogation. There is also, curiously, a framed photo missing from the library. As the police hastily zero in on a suspect, Phoebe and Eva weigh the clues. Does the crime have to do with rumors of hidden treasure at Foxwood Hall? But they must make haste to solve the widow’s murder—before someone else becomes history . . .

Download or read book A Fatal Inheritance written by Lawrence Ingrassia and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2024-05-14 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Weaving his own moving family story with a sweeping history of cancer research, Lawrence Ingrassia delivers an intimate, gripping tale that sits at the intersection of memoir and medical thriller Ingrassia lost his mother, two sisters, brother, and nephew to cancer—different cancers developing at different points throughout their lives. And while highly unusual, his family is not the only one to wonder whether their heartbreak is the result of unbelievable bad luck, or if there might be another explanation. Through meticulous research and riveting storytelling, Ingrassia takes us from the 1960s—when Dr. Frederick Pei Li and Dr. Joseph Fraumeni Jr. first met, not yet knowing that they would help make a groundbreaking discovery that would affect cancer patients for decades to come—to present day, as Ingrassia and countless others continue to unpack and build upon Li and Fraumeni’s initial discoveries, and to understand what this means for their families. In the face of seemingly unbearable loss, Ingrassia holds onto hope. He urges us to “fight like Charlie,” his nephew who battled cancer his entire life starting with a rare tumor in his cheek at the age of two—and to look toward the future, as gene sequencing, screening protocols, CRISPR gene editing, and other developing technologies may continue to extend lifespans and perhaps, one day, even offer cures.

Download or read book Death Comes to Bath written by Catherine Lloyd and published by Kensington Books. This book was released on 2018-12-18 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An English spa town is not beneficial to everyone’s health in this Regency-era mystery by the author of Death Comes to the School. After Major Sir Robert Kurland’s injury from the battle of Waterloo begins troubling him again, his wife Lady Lucy insists they relocate from the village of Kurland St. Mary to Bath, along with her sister Anna, so that Robert can take the waters and recover. At the Roman baths, Robert befriends an elderly and pugnacious businessman, Sir William Benson, ennobled by the Crown for his service to industry. Their acquaintance is short-lived, however, when the man is found drowned in the baths. Robert vows to find his killer, with Lucy’s aid. The members of Sir William’s family seem the most obvious suspects to benefit from the wealthy man’s death, but his will has gone missing. To deduce who sent Sir William to a watery grave, Robert and Lucy must investigate with the utmost discretion—before they too find themselves in over their heads… Praise for Death Comes to Bath “Well-crafted…. The couple’s complementary investigative skills shine in a plot that balances colorful characters and lively action.”—Publishers Weekly “An amusing combination of Regency mores, romantic aspirations, and a clever mystery makes this one of Lloyd’s best.”—Kirkus Reviews