Lady Kiera Darby and her husband Sebastian Gage are looking forward to celebrating with new friends at an exciting yearly soiree, but they soon learn that murder never takes a holiday in the latest riveting installment in this national bestselling series.January 1832. After enjoying a delightful few weeks with her family, expectant mother Kiera and Sebastian Gage have been invited to the Duchess … been invited to the Duchess of Bowmontʼs Twelfth Night party in Traquair, Scotland. Though she normally avoids such fashionable, rambunctious events, Kiera is ready to join in the festive merrymaking. But upon their arrival at the opulent estate, it becomes obvious that all is not merry in their hostess’s home. The family appears to be under a great strain, and someone seems determined to cause mayhem among the guests with a series of forged notes.
Matters swiftly turn from irksome to downright deadly when the partygoers stumble upon a decomposing body in the castleʼs crypt. The corpse is thought to be the duchessʼs son-in-law who had purportedly traveled to Paris more than a month earlier. It is evident the man met with foul play, and Kiera and Gage soon realize that a ruthless murderer walks among them—and may well be a member of the duchessʼs own family. And when the investigation takes a treacherous turn, Kiera discovers just how deep the killer is willing to dig to keep their secrets from ever seeing the light of day.
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Anna Lee Huber has hit another home-run with A Stroke of Malice.
One of my favorite fictional sleuthing couples, Lady Darby and Sebastian Gage, discover a body at a house party and the stage is set for danger as they seek answers. The beautiful setting of a Scottish castle and abandoned abbey provide a marvelous backdrop for intrigue with a cast of complex characters filling the pages of this captivating story.
The depth of Ms. Huber’s writing is remarkable. The pacing and unraveling of the plot is superb, allowing the author to dig deeper into the human spirit and the many relationships we share with one another as a parent, child, sibling, spouse, lover or friend. As the seams of these relationships unravel, Huber addresses the innermost motivations of love, loyalty and the consequences of long buried secrets.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.
My visits with Kiera and Sebastian in the Lady Darby series are always such fun and unfortunately much too short. This is one of my favorite auto-buy mystery series that I find myself recommending to everyone I know…so glad I discovered it!
This adventure finds them celebrating Twelfth Night at a duke’s castle and stumbling upon an unknown murder victim during a ghost tour in the underground tunnels/catacombs. The duke’s rather large and unorthodox family are prime suspects, and Huber’s descriptive writing and plot kept me riveted (as usual).
I especially love that she usually surprises her readers with interesting plot twists for some of her regular characters…no exception here! Her characters are so real and engaging I don’t ever want to leave them (even if only for the next installment).
This was yet another wonderful addition to a fabulous series, and I’m now anxiously awaiting the next one.
A big thank you to #BerkleyPublishing and #NetGalley for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
When I read Anna Lee Huber’s very first Lady Darby mystery, I was hooked, and I eagerly await each next book in the series. I have never been disappointed. In this eighth book in the series, Sebastian and Kiera Gage are happy to be celebrating the new year with friends in 1832. But, as always happens when they are around, a dead body turns up. Which means no relaxing holiday for them. So, together with Gage’s faithful valet, Anderly, and Kiera’s loyal maid, Bree, the inquiry agents make it their business to solve yet another gruesome murder. Only now, Kiera is six month’s pregnant and must take it easy, as she learns to her detriment in this sprawling castle in which they’ve been invited to and must now investigate the murder. And there are a host of suspects at the Duchess of Bowmont’s Twelfth Night Party!
Huber is very skillful at engaging her readers in each crime she invents for these wonderful books. I particularly enjoy being invited inside Lady Darby’s (Kiera’s) mind as she delves into the murders she and Gage solves. And then Huber takes us deeper and deeper into the lives of those invited to the party and we soon find out that nearly everyone had a motive for being the perpetrator of the deadly crime. And, of course, each book ends on a note that makes us eager to read the next book. If only it weren’t so long between them! Recommended.
*My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinion expressed here is entirely my own.