This was a well executed mystery. The characters were very likable. The setting seemed very realistic. Thus, this was a good mystery for fans of Charles Todd.

A fun mystery that takes place in 1816 in London and begins at a party that ends abruptly with one of the attendees being found dead and probably murdered. With a still young police department, an investigation is made and they first start their list of suspects with attendees at the party and oh what a fun and quick ride this book was.

There were a few moments in this book where I know that some things went over my head as the language was hard to read and I may not have been reading closely when it came to character names, but in the end I got who the culprit was and enjoyed the book.

I only got half way through. No romance and the mystery wasn’t interesting enough to hold my attention through all the verbiage. Too many words for so little content. I gave 2 stars because there is an audience for this, I’m just not part of it.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

I decided I wanted a light read on the day before New Years Eve, so picked this book, which is a very entertaining, engaging read, if you like a good historical cozy mystery then here is a book for you. It’s part one in The Rutherford Trilogy. With a great cast of characters, I found a bit of humour in the story, started it at lunchtime and had finished by early evening, so a nice quick read.

Marmaduke Yarnton is murdered at Lady Windleshams pre season Soirée, Not a nice man but in high demand, with his salacious gossip and innuendo’s that some find amusing, others not so. He oversteps the mark with Lord Velmond as he slanders his new wife Lucy, Lord Velmond grabs hold of the little man, and has to be prised off him by Dr Wetherby and Henry Cleveland MP. It’s only a short while later as Lord Velmond goes to collect their coats to leave that he finds Yarnton having some sort of seizure, he comes out of the cloakroom shouting for the Dr, who pronounces Yarnton as dead, murdered by his own cravatte.

This doesn’t look good for Lord Velmond, as he was the one who had an altercation with him, and he was the one to find him in the cloakroom. He asks his friend Justin Rutherford to look into the murder on his behalf, knowing his friend is good at solving puzzles, Rutherford gets permission from Sir Nathanial Conant, Chief Magistrate at Bow Street, to investigate, as well as to use Joe Watt an ex army friend who is now a Bow street Runner.

From then on the fun begins, as they start to unravel who Mr Thompson is, the man mentioned that cause Lord Velmond’s wife some distress, as well as a couple of the other guests in attendance at the same conversation. Rutherford
‘S niece Anthea is also determined to help her uncle solve the murder, despite her father not wanting her to get involved.

This is a great cozy mystery read, and made for a very pleasant relaxing afternoon and early evening. I will now have to buy the following two books to see what happens next in the series.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #SapereBooks for an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest fair and unbiased review.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel.

This was a regancy historical fiction mystery. There was no romance in this novel although it is the first if three and I am hoping that aspect develops in the other two.

This novel honestly took me several tried to get into but once I did it was a great read. I loved the main character of Justin and his niece Anthea. This book also explained the history of the Bow street runners which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I have read other novels by this author and hope to read the other two books in this series.

Enjoyable and easy to read historical fiction mystery.
While the solution to the mystery was fairly easy to work out, that did not diminish my enjoyment of the story. A very likable main character and several interesting side characters have left me looking forward to reading the two other books in the series.

On a side note, despite what the cover and book description says, this is not a romance novel at all.

Set in 1816 reminiscent of a Regency romance setting we had the Rutherfords and Justin in particular, a young man who was quite different to the other young men of the time and his niece Anthea cut form the same cloth both quite certain that justice must prevail and you must help where you can, never mind the expectations of this era.

When a murder happens and it is slowly revealed that a blackmailer is at play here, all the first round of suspects are innocent. What is Justin supposed to do to uncover the villain who has fleeced many of the aristocracy for fortunes. From just one young recently married lady, the victims go on and on and Justin realises that the blackmailer is a ruthless man who will not stop at anything to get what he wants.

This was a very nice setting, and though murder it was not gruesome nor a psychological thriller suspense kind of read. Maybe it was the era.

This is a detective story set in London in 1815 and the author's use of period language is so rich it was a joy to read. Her research felt impeccable and the characters appropriate to the age and yet still relatiable. I felt completely immersed in the period and enjoyed this historical cosy crime very much indeed.

This was a Regency mystery which almost read like a cozy mystery. The writing style and the general introduction of characters was at times a bit simplistic but the story picked up soon after we got to know the characters more. At the center if the story is a murdered man who wasn't particularly well liked due to his willingness to bring secrets out into the open that others would rather keep silent about. What we end up getting in this book is well imagined characters whose personalities seem quite realistic for the Regency period, several of whom work together to find the murdered and blackmailer. It's certainly not a complex book but it is definitely a charming, light read.

An excellent historical cozy, well written and entertaining.
I liked the fleshed out cast of characters and the well described historical background.
The mystery is solid and it kept me guessing.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Charming Regency whodunit!

I've read quite a few of Chetwynd Ley's works in the past, so when the chance came to revisit her writings, I took it and wasn't disappointed.
A spiteful ton member, Mr Marmaduke Yarnton , of the mellifluous voice (I love that!), who holds his place with gossip, innuendo and malicious hints, has, it seems has finally gone too far. He is found strangled at the fashionable Lady Windlesham's soirée. Admittedly, the Lady wanted her event to be of note, but not quite in this tenor.
The thing is just before he is found dead, the newlywed Lord Velmond had taken exception to some of Yarnton's baiting and threatened him. Ergo, Velmond is suspect no. 1.
A chance meeting with his friend Justin Rutherford has Velmond requesting his assistance to help clear his name.
The Honorable Justin is rather an interesting character. I do like his humor and his self deprecating manner. He's just so very British. As his godmother, Lady Quainton describes him, he's a scholar who "every now and then feels an urge to take himself out of his books and plunge into some adventure or other ... he acted as an intelligence officer for Wellington during the Peninsular campaign ... [and seems to suffer] from a consuming curiosity which now and then breaks out in unexpected directions."
Justin undertakes to see what he can discover for Velmond, helped of by the irrepressible niece Anthea, his godmother Lady Quainton, and as it turns out his contacts with the Bow Street Runners.
What Justin uncovers is so much more than expected, and that ripple keeps enlarging.
First published in 1984, this ebook edition brings a well loved author's works back into the spotlight. I quite enjoyed Richard Ley's Afterward where he talks about his "mum" the writer (1913-2004).
A rather elegant and clean period mystery with two delightful leading characters. There's currently no romance that I could detect but who knows what the future holds?

A Sapere Books ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

1816 London. At an evening soiree, society gossip, Marmaduke Yarnton, is found dead in the gentlemen's cloakroom. On becoming the prime suspect due to his reaction to some gossip, Lord Velmond asks his friend, ex-Captain, Justin Rutherford to help. Justin teams up with his old Sergeant, Bow Street Runner Joseph Watts, and reluctantly with his neice Anthea.
An enjoyable and charming clean cosy mystery, well-written with its few twists, and a likeable main character.
Thankfully, for me, no romance involved. I look forward to the next in the series.

I chose this book because I have read and enjoyed several of Alice Chetwynd Ley’s Regency romances, so I thought I might enjoy A Reputation Dies, though it is a different genre. I was not disappointed.

Although I knew who the murderer was about half way through, I was still very interested to read how the investigators found the evidence. And I could not quite be 100% certain - one never can! The plot was satisfyingly twisty, but not too exciting and threatening for my tastes.

I will just mention that there is no love story whatsoever - which for me is not at all a down side, but if you’re looking for a romance and a mystery, you won’t find both here. I’m making such a point of this because the tag line on the cover mentions romance.

I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who loves cosy crime, or murder mysteries that are not gruesome.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.