I really enjoy the Lady Darby series, and this installment brings a lot of simmering storylines to a head - Lady Darby and Sebastian Gage are back in Edinburgh, awaiting the birth of their first child. Things are uncomfortable, though, because someone has written a thinly-disguised work of fiction about their sometime criminal associate, Bonnie Brock Kincaid...which strongly implies that, not only are Lady D and Gage actively involved in the criminal side of his enterprises, Lady Darby's child is actually Kincaid's. No one is pleased about these circumstances, and things only get worse when the publisher of the book is murdered, and suspicion falls on those lampooned in his latest bestseller. There's also family drama galore, on both sides, and a countdown to the inevitable birth to make things more difficult. Action packed all the way, and with so many storylines resolved by the end, the series is clear to take off in an entirely new direction!

Lady Darby and Gage are expecting their first child with cholera raging in the poorer sections of town. A recently published book and several plays based on it have put them in a spotlight they would prefer to avoid. A slow read at first, but engaging throughout. This being the first I have read in this series, I think it would be better to read them in order.

4.5 stars rounded up. I always seem to struggle with the beginning of a Lady Darby book, then suddenly I am caught and forget to feed the cat. This is how it was with A Wicked Conceit. As most readers know this is not a standalone, the Prologue makes numerous refernces to the anthology The Deadly Hours, which I admit I did not read. I am not comfortable with the paranormal. Hence the half star.

There are mysteries in mysteries, and only Kiera's organized mind keeps them straight. Not to mention she is dealing with hormones from nine months of pregnancy. Gage is with her, of course Gage is with her. But he doesn't know all the secrets, and that bothers Kiera more then anything.

Bonnie Brock Kincaid must feature heavily in the anthology, he is very much present in The Wicked Conceit, as well as his sister Maggie. Again mysteries in mysteries. Bonnie Brock loves his sister, more to the point, he loves Kiera and despises Gage. As bad as he is sometimes the good comes out in him whether he likes it or not. It shows in the later part of this book.

I fell for Gage in The Anatomist's Wife when he cared for her as she was vomiting. Not many men would do that then or now for that matter. He remains true to character, you have to love him for it. Especially in this book.

All the characters we have come to know and love are there, and not a few breadcrumbs for the next Lady Darby. The coincidence of the cholera outbreak in the book and our current world pandemic strike very close to home.

And less I forget there is a baby.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review. And so it is.

I'm really enjoying the character progress and development of Kiera. I was worried for a few books in the middle that she was going to forever be a scared mouse and when we see Gage's frustrations rise, I was hopeful Anna Lee Huber had a plan to get her out of the funk. Over the last 2 books we've seen a stronger, more resilient Kiera and I hope that trend continues.
The mystery was easy enough to follow along with and figure out. The interplay between characters was more of a draw to this book than the actual mystery.

Boring on the whole and lacking any real intrigue until well over the halfway mark. This series has been boring before, so I’m not surprised. There were also numerous allusions to prior volumes and not enough detail to make the reader really remember. I’m not really dissatisfied with this, but it was a bit of a chore.

Anna Lee Huber has pulled off the nearly impossible with a Wicked Conceit: she has penned a suspenseful mystery that shows the humanity of each of her characters with only the “villain” being portrayed as truly evil. Kiera and Gage investigate to determine who wrote a scandalous book about crime boss Bonnie Brock that draws unwanted attention to the very pregnant Kiera. Gage and Kiera are accustomed to unearned scorn, but when the book’s publisher is murdered and they are suspects, it becomes even more important to track down the book’s author. What follows is a twisty tale that unravels secrets from many of the Lady Darby series group of strong supporting characters. All of this is set against the cholera epidemic of 1832 which had ramifications that bring to mind the Covid pandemic of 2020. In fact, Huber dedicates the book to Covid heroes working to “save lives and search for effective treatments and a cure.”

You won’t want to stop reading once you begin A Wicked Conceit, so carve out some spare time and enjoy!

Full Disclosure--NetGalley and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

I enjoyed the latest book in the Lady Darby series as much as its predecessors. The story never dulls and the lengths at which the author goes to paint an illustrious scene are engaging and engrossing.
There were some points that could be fixed such as the initial plot reference of the book. For a few pages I thought I was not getting the reference from a past book in the series. Also, there were spacial issues through our where the characters jumped places or times that were not indicated appropriately.