Thank you to Net Galley and Sapere Books for the chance to read and review this book. I have read all the books in this series, and I really like them. I enjoy the Victorian setting and the characters are so well-developed. I hope this series continues. Highly recommend!

Another very satisfying instalment of the Lady Fan series. This time Lady Fan is drawn into a mystery when she encounters a young woman on the road, covered in blood. The usual cast of characters help her to solve a murder with the addition of her niece, Lady Elizabeth, who proves to be a force to be reckoned with. Can’t wait to read the next one.

(3.5 stars rounded up to 4) Thank you Net Galley. I enjoyed the book. It was better than the last one in the series but still not as good as the earlier ones. The book was a slow read and I kept being lured away from it to read other books. So I took a long time to finish it.

This is book 5 in the Lady Fan series, and while it can be read as a stand-alone, the nuanced relationships make much more sense when the characters’ backgrounds are understood. The mystery was soooo sloooow to unravel until about the 60% mark, and then it really started moving. I might have given up sooner if I hadn’t already invested myself in the four previous books.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Mortal Blow was the first I have read in this series and I enjoyed it. A historical mystery full of interesting characters and we'll written.

The year 1791 and Lady Ottilia and Lord Francis are on their way to see his mother when in a woodland a woman stands stock still in the middle of the road, covered in blood. Thinking it may be an ambush they are cautious in approaching the woman, but Fan realises that she is almost catatonic and unaware of who and what they are.


Investigations reveal a dead man minus any injuries so where did the blood come from? Lady Fan her investigative antenna fully operational takes on the woman and the case which unravels slowly but surely with French emigres, a fanatic pastor father and a woman frail, fragile and at risk of hanging for murder in the absence of any other possible suspect and no witnesses.


My first foray into Lady Fan mysteries and I am a fan. I also like history and the setting was marvellous. Very descriptive of London in all areas from the high brow aristocratic circles to the poorest of the poor.


Slow deduction of this mystery murder added to the interest.

I enjoyed the mystery element of this book, as I have the others in the series. But it's the characters that make me pick up keen to pick up these books. I particularly enjoy the relationship between Lady Fan and her husband - not too perfect, but in turns loving, humorous, exasperated and so on. A good read and I look forward to the next in the series.

The Mortal blow is the fifth in the Lady Fan Mystery series, but can also serve as a stand alone book.
Lady Fan and her husband are on their way to London to stay with family when their progress is halted by a young woman standing immoble in the middle of the road and convered in blood. Well exploring the area and searching for some form of clue as to what must have befallen the girl, they find the body of a man. The two are obviously connected but how? How is she covered in so much blood? Is she hurt? What was the young woman doing with this man? Where did they come from? How did he die? This is a perfect case for Lady Fan and so they coax the girl to come back to London with them and the investigation begins.
All the characters are great and entertaining to read. This book is rich with historical detail, and reads really smoothly. It was also a fairly slow read though. All the keys to the mystery are given to us early on in the book, so there is really no sense of urgency to the book. It's all in the beginning, which made it hard to stick with it all the way through. There's one small aspect of the mystery that is held back until very close to the end of the book, but it is such a small part to the investigation that I really didn't care whether I discovered the culprit or not. They already know what had happened and how it played into their investigation, it was just the matter of who. And once they discover it, nothing is then done with the information. It felt like a monumental waste of my time. Further as Lady Fan was trying to help girl, she kept flip-floping from being helpful and forthcoming to being secretive and difficult. Therefore when everything is concluded, I wasn't truly investead in whether it would be favorable for them or not.
The series itself is enjoyable, but this perhaps isn't the best executed of the series.

*I received a copy of The Mortal Blow from Sapere Book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lady Fan is feeling better after a tragic event several months ago. She isn't sure she's ready to visit her husband's family to deal with issues related to their two nieces' debut into society, but duty calls. On the carriage ride to London, Lady Fan and Lord Francis come across a young woman covered with blood and a dead body nearby. Lady Fan is determined to find out what really happened, especially since these events may have an unexpected connection to one of her niece's debut.

I've enjoyed all four of the previous books in this series. "The Mortal Blow" reads as a standalone and details from past books that are relevant to this story are well-explained. I really enjoy this series and as always, the love between Lady Fan and Lord Francis is in full display. Their relationship is the highlight of the book and this entire series. The language the author uses and the vivid description carry you back to 1791 and immerse you into the story.

I liked this book, but it was one of my least favorite in the series. There was too much repetition as Lady Fan tried to solve the case, without the cooperation of the victim/suspect they had found and were trying to help. Her caginess and unwillingness to give straight answers becomes frustrating and has the story going around in circles. One of Lady Fan's nieces by marriage, Lady Elizabeth or "Lizzy", is clever and could be a great addition to the series. However, I liked her a lot better when she was assisting Lady Fan than when she tried to investigate on her own without knowing all the facts or how much danger she was putting herself in.

Some of the events towards the end of the book seemed far-fetched to me, but I still liked the way the book ended. I enjoy this series and look forward to Lady Fan's next adventure.

I received this book from NetGalley through the courtesy of Sapere Books. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

While on her way to London, Lady Fan comes across a woman standing in the middle of the road, silent, in shock, and covered in blood, most of it obviously from someone else, though her hands are covered in shallow cuts. An investigation reveals a dead body lying in the woods nearby, from which the blood has obviously come. The man's chest and stomach are similarly cut about, but is that what killed him? Lady Fan interprets the signs differently, and refuses to believe that the woman is responsible for the man's death. But will she be able to find the evidence to convince a (male) jury? As the situation begins to unfold and it becomes clear who is truly responsible, Lady Fan realises that this time she's up against something that she may not be able to fix...

I have to start by saying that the improbability of one woman who is in no way connected with law enforcement coming across all of these situations that she faces in this series is something that must be put aside before the stories can be enjoyed. However, having decided to ignore that, the books themselves are well written, with interesting characters and good storylines. Meg's father made me mad, but I enjoyed the continuation of the relationship between Francis and Otillia, and the entrance of Lizzie was good. I seem to have missed reading book 4, and the references to it intrigued me enough to make me want to go back and read it, but the book can stand alone, though there are occasional references to previous 'adventures' throughout.

Recommended for readers of Heyer's mysteries, though with a historical setting, but with the added benefits of Francis and Tillie (and others) as ongoing characters and relationships, and less objectionable language.

Note that I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and this is my considered opinion of the book.

1791, Lord Francis and Lady Ottilia Fanshawe are travelling to town when a female is seen standing in the middle of the road, seemingly covered in blood. On inspection a body is discovered in the nearby area. Lady Fan is determined to help, and takes the female with them. Where she starts her investigation with the help of Lord Francis and her niece Lady Elizabeth.
Another enjoyable well-written mystery in this series, where we discover more about the characters in the family.

"The Mortal Blow" is a mystery set in 1791 in London. This novel is the 5th in the series, but you don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one. This story didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous books.

Lady Fan finds a girl covered in blood and clearly in shock. With her firm but caring manner, she quickly discovers that the girl was defending herself from a man who was trying to rape her. The man is dead, and a jury is sure to convict her for killing her attacker. Lady Fan believes an earlier blow was the true cause of death, and she's determined to save the girl by finding out who dealt that blow.

This was a clue-based mystery, though it was more about trying to build a strong enough case to save the girl than difficulty discovering what happened. Lady Fan asked plenty of questions and used her observational skills, but she also got help from her husband and from a niece with some ideas of her own.

The characters were interesting, and I cared about what happened to them. Historical details were woven into the story to create the feeling of a specific time and place. There was a minor amount of of bad language. There were no sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel.

I love this series, all the books were great. This one is likable even if it's not the best in the series.
The cast of characters is well written and interesting as usual, the historical background well researched.
The mystery was solid and the plot was quite engaging even if a bit slow at times.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Sapere Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I found the repetition of certain words and phrases particularly annoying. I enjoyed The Deathly Portent, but this one--not so much. It felt stilted, and the attempts at including terms and phrases from the time period were distracting.