Having long abandoned any hope of making a match, twenty-six-year-old Beatrice Hyde-Clare finds herself a little overwhelmed by her engagement to the Duke of Kesgrave. Cloying society matrons clamor for her attention while her aunt reels off an endless list of servants she will have to oversee. Even the most intrepid female would quake at the prospect of managing eight footmen!Fortunately, Bea … footmen!
Fortunately, Bea knows the perfect distraction—an intriguing mystery—and pays a call on the Countess of Abercrombie, who had promised her that very thing only the evening before.
But her ladyship is reluctant to discuss the details with a newly minted duchess-to-be, and it dawns on Bea that the investigation cuts closer to home than she could have ever imagined. Because this time the murder victims are her own mother and father, who had died twenty years before in a seemingly straightforward boating accident.
Alas, nothing is straightforward, and as Bea digs into her past, she discovers with growing horror that she has no more idea how to be a daughter than she does a duchess.
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I liked this book after I got into it. I found the heroine’s worry’s about her fiancé a bit trying, but it set the story up well, The climax was unexpected and I loved it. All is well in the end.
I’ll admit that sometimes I get impatient with the extended inner monologue. However, it is usually very witty so I can’t be annoyed. I absolutely love the relationship between Bea and Kesgrave! Some of their banter goes over my head, but it is delightful nonetheless.
Also her aunt and cousins offer some very entertaining and funny content:)
Despite everyone’s expectations to the contrary, ‘plain’ spinster Beatrice Hyde-Clare has secured herself an engagement with the hadsome and illustrious Duke of Kesgrave, Damien Matlock. Daunted by the changes this will bring to her life in regards to her status and responsibilities, she is more than welcomes a destraction.
Her distraction comes in the form of a shocking revelation. Not all is as she once understood it when it comes to the tragic demise of he parents. Staggered by the implications of this possibility Bea feels compelled to investigate. The investigation will teach her more about her parents than she has ever had the fortune to know before. But perhaps knowledge isn’t always power and some truths are better left hidden in the past?
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A Nefarious Engagement is the fourth book in Lynn Messina’s Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries series. I suppose you could get away with reading this book as a stand alone, as the author details the relevant background information that are pertinent to this mystery. But I highly recommend that you read these books together as a series and in order. It’s the best way to truly appreciate the wonder that is Miss Beatrice Hyde-Clare.
I adored meeting Mrs. Palmer’s character and I hope we get to see more of a friendship between her and Bea as the series continues. Bea needs some females around her that also go against the grain of society and are as witty and educated as her. Plus she needs some females in her life that she doesn’t have such a complex relationship with, like members of her family that took her in after her parents died or a woman who was close friends with her deceased mother and feels guilty for not reaching out sooner. As happy as I was to meet Mrs. Palmer, I was even more so to see Kesgrave’s grandmother again. I adore that woman.
My respect for Damien really increased in this book. Sure he’s not in this book as much as the others, but that’s because he’s giving Bea the space she needs to adjust to the engagement and her new status as the future Duchess of Kesgrave. This was actually one of my favorite aspcects of the book.
Without giving any spoilers, I knew who our villain was as soon as a certain glint in the sunlight was mentioned in passing. And it NEARLY killed me as I waited anxiously for Bea to put the information together as well. I knew it would be worth it when it clicked for her, but I was having the hardest time being patient.
And now I somehow have to find the strength to wait until November 15th to continue onto the fifth book in the series, A Treacherous Performance. But I’ll be strong, I suppose three weeks won’t kill me. While I wait, I plan to check out Lynn Messina’s other Regency series, Love Takes Root.
A Mystery from the Past
No sex
No violence
No objectionable language
Should be read after finishing the previous 3 books in the series.
Mousey little Beatrice is now engaged, much to everyone’s dismay, to the devastatingly handsome Duke of Kesgrave. Adding humor to the story, little did Bea know her aunt would be all a-twitter about her own new social requirements.
Meanwhile, it would seem that Bea is supposed to sit around and be content with being engaged and preparing herself to be a proper Duchess. How boring! Fortunately, her friend and mentor, the Countess of Abercrombie, had previously mentioned a small matter that she would like Bea to look into.
The investigation leads to political intrigue and answers to a myriad of misunderstandings.
Good, light reading.
Recommended
Book 4 brought the mystery-solving duo closer together after finally admitting how they felt about one another in book 3. I loved how the Duke waited for Bea to confide in him. He didn’t push, didn’t press…he just waited, and when she was ready, he was willing to listen to aid her in anyway he can. I love their relationship. How they complement one another so very well! Yes, this series is more romance than mystery, which isn’t my typical story line. But I absolutely adore the characters, and I can’t wait until book 5.
I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinion expressed herein are my own.
This is the fourth book of the Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries. It is a standalone book with no cliffhanger ending and you can read it without having read any of the prior books in the series. There are references to events which occurred in prior books but the author kindly provided quick summaries to bring you up-to-date (or remind you if it’s been a while since you’ve read the prior books). However, if you are considering starting the series with this book, I would strongly recommend you start with the first book in the series (A Brazen Curiosity) so you can fully appreciate the character interactions and development.
I really enjoy this series! This book starts soon after Bea and the Duke have gotten engaged. Bea, while so assertive in her investigations, is still insecure about her relationship with the Duke. It was wonderful how she slowly worked through those insecurities and put her desires in the forefront. You also get to learn about Bea’s familial history as she investigates the death of her parents. For the most part, Bea does investigate on her own but this also helps Bea to put her own relationship with the Duke in perspective and allow Bea to grow. While I love the Bea-Duke dynamic and their wonderful conversations, I understood why the Duke was MIA for part of the book ( I did miss him though). I really enjoy this series and hope the investigations conducted by Bea and the Duke continue on.
The narrator of this book, Jill Smiith, is spot on. She is the same narrator for all the books in the series.
A delightful continuation of the Beatrice Hyde-Claire series. Lots of twists in this mystery, too.