Member Reviews
Murder at Queen's Landing was my first encounter with the Earl of Wrexford and Lady Charlotte and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The Earl is a scientist and Lady Charlotte is an satirical cartoonist and their partnership leads to crime solving against their better judgment. The ancillary characters add more charm. In this book, they are asked to assist a friend who finds himself in a financial scandal that will ruin his good name. Taking on the fearsome East India Company could lead to ruin or worse for Lady Charlotte and Wrexford, but they are dedicated to unraveling the mystery before someone else is murdered.
Whoa i love how this series and it's characters develop and grow with each installment. With this installment, the author takes the author places she never has before. They started as living disparate lives and running their investigations separately but in this book, the author has met the promise of the premise and united the couple and their friends and family into one united Scooby Gang and it works. I love to see characters from different spheres interacting - these new relationships really show how they are growing and changing. The romance between the Charlotte & Wrex continues to be #goals as they continue to let down the walls they have around their hearts and having them actually admit and then get engaged is like a cumulation of so much stanning and it is well worth the wait - especially when he tells her that he is giving all her young informants a home on his estate - no wait, their estate! Just so perfect! Now onto the mystery. Wow, she has outdone herself. The mystery involving drugs and smuggling and gold trading, the East India Company and all their murky politics is sensational! I must admit that I didn't 100% understand the whole scheme but I got enough to appreciate the intricacies. I loved how the author played with the timeline and gave a subtle nod to Ada Lovelace. She is giving the historical mystery a lot of history and I appreciate it. It feels like the East India Company is having a moment because this is not the first Regency era stpry I've read and watched recently that mentions them and their evil deeds. This series continues to give me a lot of joy and I always look forward to next installments. I can;t wait to tell everyone about it when it comes out!
At the end of each book in the Wrexford and Sloane series, I think this is the best one so far. The fourth book in the series doesn't disappoint as Charlotte and Wrexford work together with their ever growing group of friends to try and solve a murder and save a friend from financial ruin. Charlotte and Wrexford learn to deal with their feelings for one another while investigating a smuggling ring that goes to the highest levels of the East India Company. I would have liked to see more of Charlotte and Wrexford working together and more interaction with them alone; however this doesn't detract for the overall book.
The murder of a shipping clerk . . . the strange disappearance of trusted friends . . . rumors of corruption within the powerful East India Company . . . all add up to a dark mystery entangling Lady Charlotte Sloane and the Earl of Wrexford in a dangerous web of secrets and lies that will call into question how much they really know about the people they hold dear—and about each other. This time the mystery hits close to home as their very good friends become embroiled in and then accused of some terrible crimes. They are forced to delve into an unfamiliar world in order to get to the bottom of things which makes this a more complex story than the others in this series. Well plotted and holds your interest from start to finish. One of my favorite in this series and left me eager for the next. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.
I really love this series because of the great characters and historical setting. This latest book isn't my favorite, though. While it starts off with an interesting murder scene, the follow up story is slow to build and drags at times. It took me a while to really get into it. The payoff came about halfway through, when the action picked up and it became a page turner. There are complicated financial shenanigans involved and the beginnings of the computing process to make it all work. The story is a must for series fans, even if it isn't the best entry.
The death of a shipping clerk seems inconsequential but then Lady Cordelia, friend to Lady Charlotte Sloane, goes missing. With Lord Wrexford at her side, the lady artist sets out to discover the truth. Amidst the complex web of numbers and international affairs, the pair must use all their waits to beat their opponent and navigate their own feelings for each other.
Math has never been my thing, so the banking and explanation with numbers went right over my head. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the story as a whole. Loyalty and friendship are the strong themes in this story, with Charlotte and Wrexford both willing to do what had to be done for their friends.
The plot moves at a good pace, even when I didn't understand all the details. The motivation for the villain was understandable, and seeing him get taken down was very satisfying. Seeing Wrexford and Charlotte work out how they really feel is the best part.
For fans of the series, you won't want to miss this.
This is book four in the series. It has all the regular characters that I’ve come to know. I enjoyed the story and look forward to where it goes from here. I did think it dragged a bit at times and almost seemed like it revolved around the secondary characters more. Perhaps that was the author’s intent.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy
Murder at Queen's Landing by Andrea Penrose was another enthralling mystery for me. I was pulled into the story from the first page and hated to put it down until the end.
Ms. Penrose's descriptive writing and meticulous research presented a story that involves deceit, blackmail, smuggling and multiple murders. The relationship between Lady Charlotte and the Earl of Wrexford has slowly progressed throughout the series which has given readers the opportunity to relate to both of them on a personal level. The Weasels, Raven and Hawk, are excellent support characters as they are unique and often add that touch of humor to lighten the drama. As the series has grown so have the secondary characters and they, too, have grown into individuals that I would enjoy meeting and spending time with as they contribute to the sleuthing. A intricate plot that is quickly paced with a few devilishly twists and turns that kept me turning the pages. Bottom line is that I love this series and look forward to each new release.
Charlotte and Wrexford are drawn into solving a murder when it looks like their friend Lord Woodbridge is framed as the murderer. I enjoyed reading more about all the familiar characters from the series. I felt the ultimate scam was too complicated for me! I received an ARC from NetGalley and Kensington Books for my honest review.
I thoroughly enjoyed Murder at Queen's Landing! This particular Lady Charlotte and Earl of Wrexford adventure is very intriguing and involves Lady Cordelia who is an interesting character that made her debut in a previous book. This time they are trying to prove that their friends are innocent after being framed by a group involved with the very powerful East India Company.. I was very interested to see in the author's notes that the invention/inventor was based on a real life person. The evolution of Lady Charlotte and the Earl's relationship and the "family" they find is very well done. I'm looking forward to their next adventure!
Charlotte and Wrexford’s newest case involve finding their missing friends and what is going in in the East India Company. The characters of this series is what makes these books for me and the relationships between the different classes at this time it n history. Loved the ending and can’t wait for the next one.
Goodreads
The fourth book in the Wrexford and Sloan mystery series and I'm still really enjoying the series. The characters have settled in and I enjoy them all; even after a large break between reading books the characters are memorable. The relationship of Wrexford and Sloan has been given time to develop and the reader has been given time to invest.
Anyway, Murder at Queen's Landing starts with the murder of a shipping clerk of the East India Company. As it doesn't involve any society scandals and seems like a run of the mill mugging, Wrexford and Sloan are not initially inclined to investigate. However, when Lady Charlotte overhears a tense conversation between Lady Cordelia and her brother at a ball, followed by the disappearance of the siblings, Wrexford and Sloan begin to put the pieces together that the 2 mysteries are linked. What follows is a well developed mystery with plenty of twists and turns.
Another entertaining and thoughtful entry in this quality Regency era historical fiction series. This time Wrexford and Sloane are on the trail of conspiracists who are buried deep in the heart of London's East India Company. These shadowy operatives are not only using the East India Company to manipulate silver prices, but have also framed the brother of Charlotte's good friend Cordelia for embezzlement and murder. The ensuing investigation finds the pair following leads that bring them into contact with the inventors of an early prototype of the computer and those who would use the new technology for their own evil ends.
Andrea's Penrose's impressive research into the era is on full display here, adding depth to the plot. As always, the characters face personal challenges with thoughtful integrity and morality, an element often missing from other historical cozies and one that keeps readers coming back to this one . An ending that will please series fans caps off this fine fourth installment.
Full Disclosure--NetGalley and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.
Andrea Penrose has created some of the most entertaining and compelling characters I have encountered in historical fiction. For those of us who read for character, rather than plot, Ms Penrose's protagonists are like catnip:
. . they are intelligent and analytical;
. . . they are compassionate without being cloying;
. . . and they are capable of being both rebels and social "insiders" simultaneously.
In short, they are addictive.
Lady Charlotte and the Earl of Wrexford are positioned to move seamlessly through Regency London's most elegant society, and yet they also have a band of street-wise children to help them traverse the seamier side of society. I love the family that the author has created with her characters; it is a spicy blend of "the right kind of people" and their friends from the other side of the tracks.
This is my second adventure with Lady Charlotte and Lord Wrexford and I hope there are many more. I loved every minute I spent with them. And, for those readers who are sticklers about their historical facts and setting, this book is well-researched as to "time and place" and also familiarizes the reader with some of the scientific and technical developments of the burgeoning industrial revolution.
Netgalley provided me a complimentary copy of this book in return for a candid review.
This is book 4 in the Wrexford and Sloan series and it’s just as good as the rest. Charlotte, Wrexford and their supporting characters from friends to the street urchins Charlotte have taken in (the weasels) are a fabulous bunch to be reading about.
I always feel like this series focuses more on relationships than the actual mystery. While this mystery isn’t quite as strong as sone of the previous books, this was still enjoyable since I really like these characters.
Bonus points for the ending and I’m looking forward to see how Charlotte and Wrexford navigate the changes in their relationship going forward!
This is the fourth book in the Wrexford and Sloan series and it continues the fun of the previous 3 books. Lady Charlotte Sloan, former black sheep of her family, has rejoined polite society. Earl Alexander (he thinks that's his name!) Wrexford is a chemist and investigates crimes, his specialty is murder. These two society misfits joined forces and the combination of her artists eye and his scientific knowledge are bad news for anyone committing a crime in Regency England. In this book the murder victim is a clerk at a bank. The clerk is the younger brother of an aristocrat and one of Charlotte and Wrexford's friends is suspected of killing him. As these two work, with the assistance of Charlotte's wards the weasels (two street urchin brothers that she's taken in and adopted), Wrexford's valet and lab assistant Tyler, as well as their friends Lord Sheffield, Earl Woodbridge and his sister Cordelia (who happens to be a math genius) to discover the motive then the killer they unravel a brilliant financial swindling scheme that the murder victim uncovered. They also need to recover the misguided investment of Earl Woodbridge that sets him up for failure and disgrace.
Charlotte and Wrexford are both brilliant in their own way, she has a secret life as political cartoonist A. J. Quill and he couldn't really care less for polite society, he'd rather be in his chemistry lab doing experiments. They both also need to come to terms with their evolving relationship and feelings. But first, they need to clear the name of their friend, discover exactly what the extent of the corruption in the government and the East India Company and prevent this brilliant, but completely illegal scheme from suceeding. After a few visits to Wrexford's club and the Royal Institute, as well as a visit to Wrexford's estate they figure out who is the mastermind, come up with a clever scheme to recover Woodbridge's money, unmask the mastermind and reveal him to the world.
If you like smart, complicated characters, a mystery that leave multiple trails of clues and fun secondary characters you'll like this book. Regency England can be a brutal place, especially in the "stews" of London where the slums are, but even there there are good people that try to do the right thing. I especially like the Weasels, Hawk and Raven. These boys have endured a brutal childhood after being abandoned on the streets of London, but Charlotte has rescued them, given them a home, an education and love. But they still have serious sleuthing and observation skills that help Charlotte and Wrexford when they investigate a murder.
I can't wait for the next installment of this fun series.
I received and ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.
Another episode in the Wrexford and Sloane series.
All of the characters have great chemistry. The weasels are too funny.
Full of mystery and suspense.
Weakest entry in the series, the mystery wasn’t interesting and not the least bit thrilling. This was overwritten and repetitive, as well as trite. The continued use of the same descriptors for the characters and situations implies the author has a limited vocabulary, and I just got tired of the two main characters constantly pointing out how different they are even through they obviously are nearly the same person in most ways. I like this series, but this didn’t work very well for me.