In 1814, Atlas Catesby, a brilliant adventurer and youngest son of a baron, is anxious to resume his world travels after being injured in a carriage accident in London. But his plans are derailed when, passing through a country village, he discovers a helpless woman being auctioned off to the highest bidder—by her husband.In order to save her from being violated by another potential buyer, Atlas … buyer, Atlas purchases the lady, Lilliana, on the spot to set her free. But Lilliana, desperate to be with her young sons and knowing the laws of England give a father all parental rights, refuses to be rescued—until weeks later when her husband is murdered and Atlas is the only one who can help clear her name of the crime.
Fortunately, Atlas is a master at solving complicated puzzles, with games as well as the intricacies of human motivation, and finds himself uniquely suited to the task, despite the personal peril it may put him in. But soon Altas learns the dead man had many secrets—and more than a few enemies willing to kill to keep them quiet—in Murder in Mayfair, the first in a new historical mystery series by D. M. Quincy.
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A delightful and atmospheric historical mystery set in 1814 London. I’m off to snag the next one in the series!
Great characters and story lines, with intricate plots and many surprising twists, for all 4 books.
A well-written Regency Mystery full of detail and color. Lots of plot twist and turns. Atlas and Liliana are wonderful characters who the reader will remember long after the book ends.
What could be better than a Regency era mystery? The storyline is set right from the very first sentence. The characters develop nicely as the book continues. Like a onion their layers are peeled revealing more of their personality. Ms. Quincy offers several potential suspects for the Murder in Mayfair. Skillfully she exonerates them from the suspect list or are they ever really free of suspicion? The relationship between Atlas and Lilliania is one of trust, friendship, and at times self preservation. Maybe in will develop further in the next book in the series, which is already loaded in my kindle. I loved the author’s Regency spy novels, written under Diana Quincy. She weaves a pretty good murder mystery as well.
Some books the first chapter draws you in, some it takes a few chapters and for some I’m sorry to say it takes…longer. This is not that book. In this book the very first sentence had me hooked. Read it and see if you can put it down after the first sentence. I was in chapter 3 before I came up for a breath…then dove back in a minute later.
There are looks and glances, raised voices and character slurs, clutching and ripping away, very unhusbandly behavior and gallant rescues, new and old friendships and murder—all before chapter 9.
This is a great book. It’s exciting, the characters are full of…character and some with no character at all! The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I do not think gay relationships should be in these period era books. I’m not saying there weren’t gay people 200+ years ago, but I do believe they shouldn’t be in as many as I’ve read. It was definitely not the norm back then and even rare, so something is going on. I’m not sure if authors are being pressured into putting the token gay relationship in their stories or what exactly is going on, but I’m not buying it. I think it makes their history less authentic. For those interested, the author was not explicit in the relationship (for which I was thankful), but it was more than I wanted to read. I’m more for the mystery and the author did a great job with that!
It’s great writing that sucks you in. The characters are not like anyone else and there are surprise twists at the end. Atlas Catesby is a true gentleman who tries to rescue a married woman in distress, not your usual damsel, as she’s being sold by her husband. Then he has to deal with her. Very different from most historicals.
Good characters. Nice mystery. Interesting historical angles.
Well written & only found one editing problem. Even though my first instincts were correct, there were enough twists & turns to keep me interested.
Read it in one day & will be looking to read more of the series.
A fun beach read Regency romance. I liked the character, Atlas, clever, caring, and believable enough to make the reader want to know more about him. The villain was unredeemably bad and the murderer’s motivation unexpected. The ending left the reader interested enough in the characters to want to read the next volume. Recommend.
Wonderful writing, great characters, and a solid mystery full of twists all added up to a book that I didn’t want to put down.
This was a very interesting read and I really liked it. It isn’t what I usually would go for in historicals but I wasn’t disappointed. The writing and characters were great. Atlas was a very alluring character. Atlas’s friend, the Earl of Charlton is a very memorable and likeable character as well. Lilliana was a perfect heroine. There was just the right amount of suspense in the story, it was fun watching it break down and come together little by little. I was right with who I thought the murderer was but I was never 100% certain and started second guessing myself, I liked that it wasn’t entirely predictable. The ending definitely left me wanting more. Over all a pretty great read.
Delightful, cleverly plotted, well-developed characters and TWO mysteries that will keep you guessing right to the end. If you love Sebastian St. Cyr, Alec Halsey, Captain Lacey, etc. you will love this book as well. I believe this is Quincy’s first foray into writing a mystery, but it sure doesn’t seem like it.
Atlas Catesby, youngest son of a baron, is a restless wanderer. He is brilliant and solutions to complex puzzles just leap out at him – when he is calm and can concentrate. To ‘relax’ for concentration he often works on impossible picture puzzles that he special orders because ordinary ones aren’t enough of a challenge. For all of that brilliance, he is filled with guilt and that guilt causes him to constantly be in rescue mode – especially for damsels in distress. Hopefully, he’ll work through that guilt through the course of the series and come to realize he has no blame for what happened to his sister.
Lilliana Warfield is a strong, resilient, intelligent woman but she is also very soft and loving inside. Since the age of sixteen, she has been married to a monster. While he doesn’t physically abuse her, he uses whatever form of mental torture he can think up. Yet she manages to remain sane and defiant and produces two beautiful sons that she loves with all her heart. She also hides a secret that she cannot let anyone discover.
There are several other characters in the book that I hope will become the ‘supporting cast’ of the series. (1) The Earl of Charlton is Atlas’ very good friend. He also seems to have a tendre for Atlas’ married older sister. Will be interesting to see if something happens there or if he just loves teasing her or what. (2) Mrs. Thea Palmer, Atlas’ sister, and a mathematician. She is married but we never meet her husband because they live separately though they care for each other. Will be interesting to figure out that whole relationship. (3) Peter and Robin, Lilliana’s children. Delightful little scamps who just need some love and attention – especially from a caring male. (4) The Duke of Somerville is someone I won’t explain, you’ll just have to read the book to find all of his relationships, but he is a very dear and caring young man.
I won’t give you a blow-by-blow of the book because you can get the gist of the story from the blurb that the publisher has developed. What you should know is that there are many twists and turns and so very many possible culprits. The murder victim is a really nasty, hateful man and you are actually happy to see him gone – the only reason to care who the real murderer is – is because Bow Street is thinking that the murderer is either Lilliana or Atlas! The real murderer will be a surprise.
Lilliana and Atlas have a real attraction between them, but circumstances make Atlas think there is no chance of a future for them. So, we will have to wait and wonder if Lilliana and Atlas get together in a future book or will they each find happiness with someone else. Since I love both of them, I’m hoping for them getting together.
“I requested and received this book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”