Lady Darby returns to London with her new husband, Sebastian Gage, but newlywed bliss won’t last for long when her past comes back to haunt her in the latest exciting installment in this national bestselling series.November 1831. After fleeing London in infamy more than two years prior, Lady Kiera Darby’s return to the city is anything but mundane, though not for the reasons she expected. A gang … expected. A gang of body snatchers is arrested on suspicion of imitating the notorious misdeeds of Edinburgh criminals, Burke and Hare–killing people from the streets and selling their bodies to medical schools. Then Kiera’s past–a past she thought she’d finally made peace with–rises up to haunt her.
All of London is horrified by the evidence that “burkers” are, indeed, at work in their city. The terrified populace hovers on a knife’s edge, ready to take their enmity out on any likely suspect. And when Kiera receives a letter of blackmail, threatening to divulge details about her late anatomist husband’s involvement with the body snatchers and wrongfully implicate her, she begins to apprehend just how precarious her situation is. Not only for herself, but also her new husband and investigative partner, Sebastian Gage, and their unborn child.
Meanwhile, the young scion of a noble family has been found murdered a block from his home, and the man’s family wants Kiera and Gage to investigate. Is it a failed attempt by the London burkers, having left the body behind, or the crime of someone much closer to home? Someone who stalks the privileged, using the uproar over the burkers to cover his own dark deeds?
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In this series, Lady Darby has tried, unsuccessfully, to put her sordid past behind her but it had always followed her regardless. Although, after her last successful investigation and the recent marriage to her partner, Sebastian Gage, she had started to be grudgingly accepted by her peers. Never one to be a fool, Kiera knew that not everyone was pleased about her new circumstances, but she was willing to put up with some cold stares and whispered slights because overall that was better than what she had previously experienced. Unfortunately, when a recent case of body snatching brought Kiera’s mortifying past back into the limelight, both Kiera and Gage knew that they were going to have to figure out who was behind the crimes before the situation escalated to one of no return for Kiera.
There was much to love while reading An Artless Demise! I really felt for Kiera’s character as her past came back to haunt her. It was most distressing to see her once again affected by a past that was in no way her fault but forced upon her by the shackles of her prior marriage to a monster. There was some true growth for Kiera as she navigated the backbiters and people who would love to see her brought low, which was lovely to see. In this book, she had to truly come to terms with her past in order to be able to look to her future and it was very heartwarming to meet her friends, both old and new, who were there to support her during this most distressing time. There was also quite the mystery behind the death’s that were whipping all of London into an uproar! It was the type of tale with twists and turns that will fully engage your imagination as the clues lead from one possibility to another. Overall, An Artless Demise was a thoroughly engaging read and left me excited about reading another installment in the Lady Darby Mystery series!
This review is based on a complimentary book I received from Penguin Random House. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.
An Artless Demise is another great addition to the Lady Darby mystery series. In this book Lady Darby and Gage return to London only to get involved in another murder investigation. It seems that the body snatchers are killing people in order to sell their bodies to medical schools, creating panic and unrest in the city, and it appears that the past Kiera was trying so hard to put behind is still haunting her. Some of the people in Kiera and Sebastian’s circles believe that Kiera has a connection to the body snatchers and blame her for what is happening. It’s up to Kiera and Gage to not only solve the murders but to clear her name and reputation once again. I really enjoyed this installment. I loved London setting and I found the murder mystery part very interesting. Lady Darby series is one of my favorite historical mysteries and it continues to surprise and delight me well into book seven.
This well-crafted book is a wonderful blend of mystery and history and a romance between one of my favorite couples. The series just keeps getting better and better with each new addition to it. While this is the seventh book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone. However, I highly recommend that you read the series in order – from the beginning – in order to learn more of Kiera’s history and see how far she’s come and to watch the romance between Kiera and Gage blossom.
This book was so suspenseful that my heart was in my throat the whole time I was reading – and yet I couldn’t put it down. There is murder, resurrectionists, blackmail, social unrest and – well – a tad of fatigue and queasiness while dealing with the early days of pregnancy. As with all of the Lady Darby books, there are multiple things happening for Kiera and Gage to unravel. The ‘things’ in this book are only loosely related and each would be a good mystery on its own – but when you put all of them in one book – well – WOW!
Kiera fled London a little over two years ago thanks to her first husband’s perfidy. Everyone thought Kiera was as guilty as her husband – just by association. After Kiera’s formal charges were dismissed, her brother and brother-in-law just barely managed to get her out of London before the incensed mobs attacked her. Now, she and Gage have returned for a visit and what raises its ugly head again? Resurrectionists! Everybody in society looks at Kiera and wonders – even outright accuses – her of being involved with them. Then, a body turns up in Mayfair – the heir to one of England’s oldest and most venerable titles. The murder was committed in a manner reminiscent of the resurrectionist murders that happened in Edinburgh a few years earlier. Then a second and third murder committed in the same manner.
In the midst of the murder investigations and trying to assist with the resurrectionists trial, someone is blackmailing Kiera. The blackmailers are threatening to go to the papers and accuse Kiera of helping them and her husband. Kiera can’t let that happen because it wouldn’t be just her that it would ruin – Gage, Kiera’s sister, brother, brother-in-law, and unborn child would also suffer.
When all is wrapped up, you will be surprised to find who the murderer is and the reasons for the murders.
This is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Great book was a page Truer