Fans of the Lady Julia Grey Mysteries will love these Georgian historical mysteries.Fleeing the attentions of the handsome and commanding Marquess of Darkefell, Lady Anne Addison arrives on the doorstep of a dear friend seeking nothing but rest and relaxation, but soon finds herself putting her investigative talents to work after a sighting of the Barbary Ghost. Always a skeptic of the … of the supernatural, Lady Anne immediately suspects the apparition is nothing more than a diversionary tactic to conceal smugglers on the beach below her friend’s house.
When the beguiling marquess follows her to Cornwall, Anne is distracted from her ghost hunt by his alluring kisses, until murder gets her attention. Forced once again to work with the marquess to uncover the truth behind a mystery, she soon discovers that her passionate attraction to him has not abated. Should she run from him again, or give in to temptation?
This book was originally published under the name Donna Lea Simpson.
Praise for the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries:
“If you are looking for a historical mystery with romance, suspense, and a suggestion of paranormal, then read Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark.” —Fallen Angel Reviews
“[Hamilton] excels at imbuing her realistic characters with subtle depths . . .” —American Library Association
“[The author] has set up a well-drawn Gothic horror setting here, so the atmosphere is fantastic, what with it being chilling, mysterious, and menacing all at once.” —Mrs. Giggles
About the Author:
Victoria Hamilton is the pseudonym of nationally bestselling romance author Donna Lea Simpson. Victoria is the bestselling author of three mystery series, the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries, the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and the Merry Muffin Mysteries. She is also the bestselling author of Regency and historical romances as Donna Lea Simpson. Her latest adventure in writing is a Regency-set historical mystery series, starting with A Gentlewoman’s Guide to Murder. She blogs at Killer Characters. Visit her website at victoriahamiltonmysteries.com.
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First a werewolf, now a ghost! If Lady Anne and Lord Darkefell are going to continue to spend time together, they should be prepared for non-stop excitement and danger. Revenge of the Barbary Ghost is the second book in the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries series, and it’s every bit as delightful as the first, Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark. If you are new to the series this book will work just fine standalone. But do yourself a favor, stop right now and catch up. The history and backstories are fascinating and will add much to your reading pleasure.
Anne and Darkefell spend about equal time mesmerized by or irritated with each other. They are, or will be, a terrific couple, but after Anne nearly loses her life and Darkefell, in a moment of panic, demands she “stop this foolishness” and marry him immediately she flees his estate in Yorkshire and goes to stay with friends in Cornwall to think things through. She is powerfully attracted to him but marriage was not on her agenda. Of course he follows her, but not before she learns of sightings of “The Barbary Ghost” and decides to investigate. Anne doesn’t believe in ghosts any more than she believes in werewolves and thinks the ghost is a cover for smugglers. When she learns of Darkefell’s arrival she hopes to enlist his aid in solving the mystery. Darkefell, however, has barely recovered from the fear of losing her due to her recklessness and again lectures her about how she needs to calm down, back off, stay safe and let him handle things. Anne, in effect, storms off in a huff. These two have a lot to learn about relationships but they are absolutely charming as they blunder through their mutual steamy attraction. They are pretty adept, though, at solving mysteries and the superbly written, well-developed, smooth flowing, detailed plot and clues provided by author Victoria Hamilton make for a great read.
Anne’s maid Mary and Darkefell’s secretary Osei Boatin are back and as interesting as ever, and Anne’s friend Pamela and her brother Marcus keep you guessing. This is a story that will claim your attention and delight you, full of action and danger and unexplained happenings.
Once again author Hamilton (aka Donna Lea Simpson) has skillfully blended a romance with some heat and a mystery that will make you think into a thoroughly entertaining Georgian historical. I was fortunate enough to have an audio copy of Revenge the Barbary Ghost and the author’s story and Danielle Cohen’s narration make for one terrific listen. I was not required or expected to provide a review and all opinions are my own. I loved this story and love this series. Lucky for me the adventures of Lady Anne and the Marquess of Darkefell will continue!
& the gothic romance continues… another great mystery… twist & turns absolutely worth the listen/read. I hated to see it end. but the 3rd audible/book will bring more mystery & hopefully fulfilled love…I can’t wait to get started on it!
I really enjoyed this book. After listening to the first book in the series, Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark, I was pretty excited to get to this installment because I felt like Darkefell and Lady Anne had some unfinished business to deal with. Once I started listening, I was quickly taken with the new mystery in Lady Anne’s life and couldn’t wait to see how things would work out.
After leaving Darkefell’s home, Lady Anne goes to visit a friend for a while. She isn’t there for long before she sees the Barbary Ghost and decides to figure out what is really going on. Lord Darkefell isn’t ready to give up on Lady Anne and finds her in Cornwall and before long is helping her investigate everything that is happening. I found the mystery to be quite complex and liked the fact that I couldn’t quite put all of the pieces together on my own. There were definitely a few surprises thrown into the mix.
Lady Anne and Lord Darkefell make a great team. They really do work well together and they have a lot of chemistry. They are both great characters and I really want to see them work things out. Lord Darkefell is used to being in charge and can become too authoritative with Lady Anne. They both want each other but Lady Anne isn’t sure that she wants marriage since it will mean giving up her freedom.
I thought that Danielle Cohen did a fantastic job with the narration of this book. I seem to be enjoying this narrator more and more each time I listen to her work. I like the different voices that she uses and I think that she adds a lot of emotion into the reading of the story. I think she has a very pleasant voice that is easy to listen to for hours at a time and I think that the accent she uses works wonderfully with this series.
I would recommend this series to others. This is the second book in the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries series which is best read in order if possible because of the ongoing character relationships. I cannot wait to get started on the next book in this series.
I received a review copy of this audiobook from the narrator.
After Darkefell’s rather demanding proposal, Lady Anne has travelled to Cornwall in order to take some time away and visit at the home of Pamela and Marcus St James, two siblings whom became Anne’s dear friends during her come out season. But as Anne soon discovers not everything is as it seems, when she witnesses a circumspect ghost and smugglers from the the cliffs bordering the house at which she is visiting. Everyone around her seems unwilling to acknowledge the goings on by the cliffs or to even talk about the possibility of smugglers. Anne will not be thwarted though and is determined to solve the puzzle presented to her.
To her surprise, Darkefell has followed her all the way to Cornwall and is determined that now she must agree to his marriage proposal. Anne is as attracted to him as ever, but still wars with the idea of losing her freedom and independence to any man. With mixed feeling about the man himself and his assitance, they seek to find some answer to this new mystery that they are facing. With several bumps along the way and some shocking truths, this case will be more trying than their last.
I absolutely ADORED this book. The first in the series was good, but I found this one so much more engaging and entertaining. In the first book, Anne’s bravery and involvement in the case bordered on recklessness as she continued to unnecessarily put herself at risk. In this book, however, her actions seem more logical and reasonable and when she does put herself in the line of danger it is in order to pretect someone she cares for and she takes precautions and plans ahead. So much growth right there.
I found both Anne and Darkefell to be more likable and relatable charcters in this book, but especially he. We learn so much more about the kind of people our characters are and their actions are so much more understandable in this book. Further this mystery felt more high stakes and the mystery more believable. I was also much more invested in the fates and well being of the background characters this time around as they felt more fleshed out and 3-dimensional.
I suppose this book could serve as a standalone novel, as it is detailed for us how our characters have gotten to where they have and what has transpired between Lady Anne and Darkefell. But where’s the fun in that, right? It would be so much better just to read the whole series as you’ll have a better understanding of the characters and their reasonings and they’re both great books. I would definitely recommend this series.
Many thanks to Beyond the Page Publishing who granted my request to read this title via NetGalley.
Lady Anne is a puzzling character in that she is both impulsive and indecisive. She feels passionately about Lord Darkefell but won’t marry him because she fears the loss of freedom (a reality under English law). But she spends a lot of time with him and revels in his passionate kisses. This dithering sometimes gets in the way of the story. Anne has only so many avenues to muse as she explores the arguments both for and against marrying the Lord. Tony only has so many ways to state his feeling and to explain his hopes for their future together. Hamilton’s writing is sometimes pompous and circuitous, and the style also sometimes interferes with the story. The plot and details of the mystery are pretty good, but the negatives lessened my enjoyment of the book.
Despite a rather slow beginning, it picks up speed and becomes engrossing. The characters are interesting and engaging even when they act like twits! There’s no difficulty in following the plot even if, like me, you haven’t read the first book. The publisher’s blurb is pretty good for setting the stage.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley.