After her father and sister abandoned the family after he destroyed their finances and after her mother passed a few years ago, Rosalind Thorne has been forced to make her own way living by her own wits as a 'gentlewoman of reduced circumstances.'

Recruited by Lady Jersey, Rosalind is called to the home of the prestigious Lady Melbourne to recover a bundle of sensitive correspondence that have been stolen from a locked desk drawer. In order to investigate Rosalind will need to stay on in Lady Melbourne's home posing as her own private secretary. Not only must she identify the thief, she must also track them down and return them to Lady Melbourne before they cause an irrepairable scandal.

Lady Melbourne is not giving Rosalind all the facts available. When Adam Harkness comes calling with the news of  an unknown woman found dead within the gates of Melbourne House, Rosalind will have to contend with the danger of not only posing as a member of staff in a powerful household and a blackmailer, but of an unknown murderer.
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And Dangerous to Know is the third book in Darcy Wilde's Rosalind Thorne Mysteries series. Before I get to the actual review, I just want to mention that the covers for the books in this series are gorgeous.

I don't want to give away anything of the mystery, so I'll try to be vague. I was pretty sure that I knew who the villian was here but a few of the characters and the twisting of the plot left room for more than one red herring in the mix that will have you changing your mind more than once. I love a good mystery that will keep me guessing.

I adore regency mysteries and I love the historic tone of this series, the research is evident and pulls you in and immerses you in the story. The historical characters, like Lord Byron and Lady Caroline Lamb, are woven into the story so nicely alongside the fictional ones. I found it very interesting that Wilde was able to give such a sense of these historical figures through only snippets of correspondence (which lead us into each chapter) and being talked about by the other characters. For example, we never actually meet Byron in this book, but you feel like you really get a sense of his character.

A lot of mysteries run the risk of having either no sense of danger or too much to the point that the mystery looses any sense of reality. But this series has a great balance of danger, especially for our main characters.

I'm not a fan of love triangles, but this one works... mostly because it is barely a love triangle. The men aren't competing to win the affections of one woman here, there just happen to be two men in her life. One that represents her past and another that represents her future. Rosalind and Devon share a history and affection. Adam and Rosalind share attraction and lifestyles. A future with Devon means a return to the life she was raised to and a future with Adam means a life with a man from the world in which she now lives and has built for herself. I certainly know where I stand on this matter and his name is Harkness.

I love Rosalind's character, she is clever and compassionate and I look forward to seeing what mystery she'll face next.. perhaps at the Casselmaine estate? This book ends with a nice transition to lead us into the next book in the series, which I am very much looking forward to. I recommend this book and the entire series to fans of recency mysteries. If you enjoy the Lady Darby series by Anna Lee Huber, you'll love this series.
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Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for sharing an eARC with me of And Dangerous to Know by Darcy Wilde. This is my honest review.

This is a really engrossing historical mystery. I loved the setting and characters. The plot was very well crafted and well written. This was my first read from this author. I definitely recommend and can’t wait to read more.

3.75 stars

This third entry in the Rosalind Thorne series finds our protagonist moving into Melbourne House, home to a very well-connected old British peer's family, including the infamous Lady Caroline Lamb, scandalous cast-off lover of Lord Byron. Rosalind has been asked by Bow Street to check into the disappearance of some old letters from Byron which have huge blackmail potential.

While you could read this as a standalone, there is a fair amount of background for Rosalind in the two previous novels which is useful to know. She has one foot in two worlds -- the privileged world of the aristocracy, where she once belonged before her father shamed the family and disappeared, and the world of more ordinary mortals where she now lives, making a living helping society women solve problems requiring investigative skills and discretion.

This is highlighted by the behind the scenes love triangle. Her first love is a peer of the realm, and still willing to make her his duchess. But she also has very strong feelings for Adam Harkness, a Bow Street investigator. Where does she fit in? She honestly is uncertain.

Rosalind is a strong and appealing character and it will be interesting to see how she figures out her future. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This time the book really goes very fast, there are a lot of plot twist and some hard decision to made, unluckily the most interesting for me have to wait at last for the next installment....

Stavolta il ritmo é molto piú serrato, ci sono parecchi colpi di scena e decisioni difficili da prendere, sfortunatamente peró, quelle che piú mi interessano devono aspettare come minimo il prossimo libro....peccato!

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE DRC!

I enjoyed the first two books in the Rosalind Thorne mysteries and was patiently awaiting the third book. It was a long wait but the latest installment, And Dangerous to Know, did not disappoint. In this book, Rosalind investigates the disappearance of the letters belonging to the famous Lord Byron. Rosalind is hired by Lady Melbourne, whose daughter-in-law is Lady Caroline Lamb, Lord Byron's notorious former lover.

In addition to the disappearance of the letters, the body of an unnamed woman was found near Melbourne's residence. Who was the murdered woman and did she have anything to do with the missing correspondence? Rosalind agrees to help Adam Harkness, the Bow Street runner, to help solve the murder. But solving the murder and the mystery of the missing letters may put Rosalind in danger. This was a very satisfying mystery with interesting characters and full of intrigue. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

I am a long time fan of historical mysteries but somehow I missed this series. Starting with the third in the series convinced me to put the previous two books on my must read soon list and the series on my list of favorites. Even though I didn't have all of the backstory I felt that this worked well as a stand alone.
It's 1817 London and we are introduced to Adam Harkness of the famous Bow Street when he is called by the Coroner of Middlesex which includes London. An unidentified woman has been delivered to the cellar under the Brown Bear tavern - a mortuary. When the men doing the delivering of the body are questioned about the who and the why of it, all they would share was the pickup location. Because of that, the Coroner calls Harkness as it appears that it involves the Haute Ton and needs a delicate touch to investigate. The woman, it becomes clear, is connected to Melbourne House. The Coroner would prefer to call her a Jane Doe, sign off on the case and put her in a paupers grave. The end. Harkness knows that isn't going to happen and sets out to contact the one person he knows who would be perfectly positioned in society to help him solve the murder. Rosalind Thorne was raised an aristocrat but her father lost his fortune and then abandoned his family. Rosalind now makes her way in life by being both discrete and very clever, helping the Haute Ton deal with rather sticky matters. At the same time Harkness is planning to contact her, Rosalind is visited by Lady Jersey, a veritable whirlwind who knows what she wants and expects to get it. She wants Rosalind to find out who stole a packet of personal letters from Lord Byron and, to do that, she will have to stay awhile at Melbourne House. Two cases - are they connected?
I enjoyed every page of this mystery. The setting, the voice, the puzzle, the wonderful characters (both historical and fictional) all came together in a pitch perfect read.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

And Dangerous to Know
(Rosalind Thorne Mysteries #3)
by Darcie Wilde

Kindle Edition, 304 pages
Expected publication: January 1st 2020 by Kensington Books (first published December 31st 2019)


Goodreads synopsis:
When the ladies of the ton of Regency London need discreet assistance, they turn to Rosalind Thorne—in these mysteries inspired by the novels of Jane Austen . . .
 
Trust is a delicate thing, and no one knows that better than Rosalind Thorne. Lady Melbourne has entrusted her with recovering a packet of highly sensitive private letters stolen from her desk. The contents of these letters hold great interest for the famous poet Lord Byron, who had carried on a notorious public affair with Lady Melbourne's daughter-in-law, the inconveniently unstable Lady Caroline Lamb. Rosalind is to take up residence in Melbourne House, posing as Lady Melbourne's confidential secretary. There, she must discover the thief and regain possession of the letters before any further scandal erupts.
 
However, Lady Melbourne omits a crucial detail. Rosalind learns from the Bow Street runner, Adam Harkness, that an unidentified woman was found dead in the courtyard of Melbourne House. The coroner has determined she was poisoned. Adam urges Rosalind to use her new position in the household to help solve the murder. As she begins to untangle a web of secrets and blackmail, Rosalind finds she must risk her own life to bring the desperate business to an end . . .

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4.25 Stars

This is the third book in the Rosalind Thorne mystery series by Darcie Wilde.

You need to go into this book knowing that this piece is set in the early 1800. Back then the speech was more stiff and proper. So, if you are looking for the normal flow you see in regular era books, you aren’t going to find it here. That is due mostly to the Regency setting. If you love a good Jane Austen book, you will definitely love this. But go in aware of the setting in order to get the most out of this novel.

I had a bit of trouble getting into the book due to all the properness and the dropping of so many names with Lord and Lady attached to them. My mind started to swim. I am not a normal reader of a Regency era book. If you have a bit of trouble too, I suggest listening to it on audio book. I let my kindle read it to me and found it all made so much more sense.

The entire concept of the novel is intriguing. You don’t find ladies like Rosalind much in 1800’s era fiction. She is very intuitive and pays attention to her surroundings. She can also make great leaps in logic. And she does this all while muttering to herself reminding herself to be a proper lady in the midst of the mystery and deception. She reminded me a lot of a female Sherlock Holmes.

I can see how someone could easily get lost in a novel of this era. The setting really overwhelmed me. I always wonder how authors can so get in touch with such a setting and nail it when offering it to the public.

Great book. I will definitely pick up the previous two books just to see what I have missed. This book may be a bit different than what we are used to in the cozy world but different isn’t always bad. Check this out and test it for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

This was my first foray into the series (and first time reading this author) and I was definitely pleasantly surprised to find a good historical mystery series I had somehow missed out on...which means there's now two more books I have to find and read!
I think because of the cover art I was expecting something a little more like a cozy mystery placed in a historical setting (But without a lot of historical heft) with a lot of witty repartee and more fun-loving-bantering-sassy vibe as heroines are want to be in many of the cozy mysteries. What I got instead was a much more serious minded historical mystery set within the complex society of the regency period, think slow burn seriousness as opposed to witty banter (More Persuasion than Emma). The mystery itself was complex with two separate aspects that eventually connect, and a not easily guessed at perpetrator.
And while I could have done with a little more spunk from our heroine (I did not get a total handle on her from this one book, and it could be because I have not read the first two, and she is obviously emotionally conflicted in this story line) I absolutely fell in love with the supporting cast in this one including Adam Harkness and his cohort Sampson Goutier, along with the character of Lady Carolyn Lamb - one of my favorite historical figures to read about during this time period (and her affair with Lord Byron), I love to see how different authors portray her and this is possibly my favorite "version" of her yet!
The romantic aspect of this one was disappointing only in her choice of Beau (as in why is she picking THAT guy) at the end...which I'm hoping is just a bump in the road created by author in her getting together with the RIGHT guy.
All in all a good historical mystery with more depth than I expected....fans of Tasha Alexander, Stephanie Barron, Anna Lee Huber, C.S. Harris, and Victoria Thompson should all pick up this series and add it to their to-read lists.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for my ARC of this book (in exchange for an honest review) - I have definitely found a new series to put on my keepers shelf!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

I know I’m late to the party as this is my first book on what is the 3rd installment in the series. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I can say I enjoyed it. I thought the characters where well developed and the story was good - and of course we have a cliffhanger - so I am now invested in book 4

Rosalind Thorpe has a gift for coming to the aid of ladies of the ton and solving delicate matters. This time she is hired to find some missing letters - compromising correspondence that relates to lord Byron. There is also a murder to solve- all neatly tied up in the end. Maybe the mystery could have been fleshed out more but def this series has a lot of promise as you become invested in Ms Thornes future. Def recommend for a light read

"And Dangerous to Know" is a mystery set in 1817 in London, England. This is the third book in the series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this one didn't spoil the previous mysteries.

This was a clue-based puzzle mystery. Rosalind, Harkness (and those helping them) asked questions and collected information in their different ways. Rosalind was clever, but the mystery was complex and twisty. Whodunit was guessable but not obvious. The characters were interesting and reacted realistically to events. The historical details were woven into the story, and the author clearly put research time into getting those details correct. There was no sex. There was a minor amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting mystery.

Although this is book three in a series, it is my first encounter with the protagonist, Rosalind Thorne.
I loved everything about her, and about AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW.

Years and years ago I was an avid reader of Georgette Heyer's Regency Romances---this book had that familiar element of the restricted society, the haughty grand dames, and the bright, aspiring heroine. But, in addition to the romance, we also have a mystery which I found engaging and challenging.

Ms. Wilde has written an entertaining and engaging book and I enjoyed every minute I spent with it.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Kensington Books, in return for an honest review.
This is the third in this series and easily read as a stand-alone. Rosalind Thorne undertakes delicate and discreet investigations among London high society. Invited to find missing letters, affiliated with a notorious family, Rosalind can’t afford not to accept the job. At the same time, Rosalind is asked by Adam Harkness, a friend and Bow Street Officer, to help investigate the murder of a woman whose body came from the same place, Melbourne House. The author does an excellent job of weaving real people (Lady Caroline Lamb, Lord Byron, etc) with the fictional story and protagonists. I look forward to the next book in this series.

In this third installment in the series Rosalind finds herself being summoned to Melbourne House and tasked with the job of finding missing letters, the contents of which would bring even greater scandal to Lady Melbourne’s household. Rosalind would rather not get involved with the dramas of this notorious family, but also realizes that her financial well-being is dependent on staying in the good graces of the socially powerful. While trying to decide how to proceed, her friend Adam Harkness a Bow Street officer, requests her assistance in discreetly investigating the murder of a woman whose body was brought to Bow Street from Melbourne House itself. Taking up residence at Melbourne House, Rosalind must sort through the abundance of lies, half-truths and paranoid suspicions coming from the various members of the household.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I especially enjoyed the weaving of historical characters with a fictional mystery. While it is not completely necessary to read the other books in the series to understand this one, it would be a shame to miss out on the character development and the background of the, for lack of better term, ‘love triangle’ (which, in my opinion, is exceedingly well handled and far more believable than most). Rosalind’s personal life mostly takes a backseat in this book, but it looks like it might get more focus in the next one.

Content-wise, I would place this at the low end of PG-13. There is some mild language and a fair amount of discussion regarding the scandalous life of Lord Byron and all those connected to him. The only mildly gruesome content is the description of the injuries observed on the murder victim at the very beginning.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC!

This was the first book I've read by this author and it prompted me to go out and find the rest. I can't wait to find out what happens in the character's lives in the next book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The third installment of the the Rosalind Thorne Mysteries finds her and Mr. Harkness needing to collaborate. Miss Thorne is invited to stay at Melbourne House to help discover what happened to a packet of letters that were penned by the Lord Byron. Letters that could be damaging to a number of people. At the same time that Miss Thorne receives this invitation, Mr. Harkness has discovered that a woman was murdered at Melbourne House. To help discover who this woman is and why she was murdered, Mr. Harkness needs someone on the inside.

And Dangerous to Know is full of intrigue and suspense. It is well written and a page turner. I have to admit that I was kept guessing until near the end, although the clues were there. Ms. Wilde is a fun author to read and her mysteries are a nice escape.

And Dangerous to Know by Darcie Wilde. (Rosalind Thorne #3). 5 stars

This book follows last year's "A Purely Private Matter" and features Miss Rosalind Thorne as the main character. This mystery can be enjoyed as a single title, but you miss quite a bit of background and character development if you don't start with the first book - A Useful Woman. Miss Thorne is part of the aristocracy, albeit on the lower rung. Due to circumstances explained in the first book, she survives by being an aide/fixer for various aristocrats. She isn't given a salary, but receives favors and gifts for her help which can be monetize later. At the beginning, Rosalind is spending a quiet morning with her friends Alice and George, when Lady Jersey barges in and says that she must accompany her immediately. She is taking Rosalind to Melbourne House, the home of Lady Melbourne one of London's preeminent social and politcal hostess. During her interview with Lady Melbourne, she finds out that some damaging letters have been stolen that references Lord Byron.

Earlier, Adam Harkness, an officer from Bow Street is shown a body of an unidentifed woman. She was delivered to Bow Street by carters. When questioned they said they picked up the body at Melbourne House. What follows is an investigation into the identity of the dead woman, the thief that stole the letters, and the murderer.

This book was fabulous and exciting, not only because of the intriguing mystery, but for the real individuals that populate the book. We meet a Lady Jersey, Lady Melbourne, Lady Caroline Lamb, and the future Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister to Queen Victoria. In this book, we see more of what Rosalind is thinking and her internal conflicts. The next book will be interesting because Rosalind might have choose between being the person she has grown into or going back to living in the world she was raised for.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for this ARC.

This is an excellent series and I really enjoyed the third entry! In this one, both Adam and Rosalind end up at Melbourne House for two different reasons but ones that become intertwined very quickly. Rosalind uses her social connections, and more importantly to me, her brain to help solve the connected mysteries. Part of the reason I like this series including this book so much is because it actually has a Regency feel to it. Regency mysteries are my absolute favorites, but I've read some that you'd never know it was set in the Regency period but that's definitely not the case here. The actual mystery aspect was well done here too and kept me guessing for quite a while. Also, this had an interesting look at William and Caroline Lamb.

I'm usually not a particularly big fan of love triangles or anything that even seems like it might become a love triangle. While this certainly isn't a main focus, it is there but it's fairly well done. I just think I'm on team Adam.

I really hope there's a fourth book in this series - the end of the story seems like it can transition nicely to another book.