This was a bit of an up and down read for me. I enjoyed the mystery and the setting quite a bit! The twists and turns were great really! I did feel like I missed a book in the series at times. It just felt like the story was referencing things I should have known about, but that wasn't actually in this book. That would become quite frustrating for me. Outside of that, this was a good story.

This book wasn't for me. I wanted to like it, I just couldn't get into it. I'm sure others will enjoy this it just wasn't for me.

At first, I found this to be a little confusing. Events had happened before the beginning of the book and these were slowly revealed. There were a number of characters to start but as the book progressed, so things became clearly. I did enjoy the mystery of the story and I didn’t work out who was the culprit, always a bonus. Abigail, Lady Worthing, has a number of things going on in her life. She was involved with the abolition movement, there was some misunderstanding with her father and sister. It wasn’t explained in this book why the sister disappeared, maybe later in the series. On top of all this, was the murder mystery and a husband who had been away for some time. I enjoyed the way Abigail worked out the mystery and found this to be an entertaining read. I will look for the next in the series. I was given a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a great start to this series! Complex characters, many twists in the murder mystery, lots of history, side plots that I can't wait to see play out in the series. And Lady Worthing is a force. I enjoyed this mystery and can't wait to see what Lady Worthing is up to next, there are so many puzzle pieces still to come. Highly recommend for readers looking to try a mystery, fans of Vanessa Riley. And though the murders here are plenty violent, readers who don't want a cozy mystery but are also not looking for a deep dark dive, this should fit the bill.

A historical theme with a cozy mystery adds to a great book. Murder in Westminister is a new series, with a fresh spin on this concept. I enjoyed reading this book. The characters and story really adds to the story's charm and appeal.

My thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGallery for a digital copy of this book for my review!

3 1/2 stars. This is the first in a new mystery series set in Regency England. I love this time period and was thrilled to find an unique amateur detective: a black noble woman. Another rather unique aspect is the secondary story line of the abolitionist movement. Race is definitely an issue in the book without it being the only theme. Racial attitudes weren't as restrictive during the beginning of the 19th century in England as they were later on. If the person had some sort of connection to a high social class and behaved in a perceived appropriate manner they could be somewhat accepted. Class prejudice could be stronger than racial prejudice, The author has done a good job of incorporating historical information that makes sense to the story without there being an data dump or the facts seemingly artificially placed.

I thought the mystery was good and it definitely had some twists and turns. It did meander sometimes and I thought some of the passages were a bit rough. Also, there is a lot of mention about how Abigail helped to save her future husband from the gallows by doing some detective work before the events in this book. It seems like there should be prequel to this story but I don't see one. While the reader can understand what is going on without such a prequel there is a feeling like reader is missing some context, particularly when it comes to the relationship between Abigail and her husband who is away from home in the book.

I will definitely read another book in this series. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest opinion.

Finally! A Vanessa Riley novel that works for me! Fourth time’s the charm. I’m so glad to know that her writing style seems to change with each series. That was always my biggest pet peeve - her writing was disjointed and difficult to follow. But though there are side stories yet untold, A Murder in Westminster is her most linear and clear narrative to date, and I’m very interested in where she next takes these occupants of Westminster.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

A new, exciting series, The Lady Worthing Mysteries, brings a new twist to the Regency Era in that it is not only a historical mystery but the main character, Lady Abigail Worthing, is a woman of mixed race, Scottish and Jamaican. She is married to a sea captain, Lord Worthing. who appears to be away at sea the vast majority of his life. However, her position as his wife has opened doors that would not have been available to her otherwise. She also lives her life with a secret ambition to work for the pro-abolitionist movement. Abbie’s neighbor, Julie Henderson, is found dead on the grounds of Lady Worthing and she feels compelled to assist in finding her murderer. One of her suspects is the husband, Stapleton Henderson, and such dialogues will have you racing through the pages with an almost love/hate relationship between the two whether it’s the fight between them and their dogs or their outlook on life. I look forward to more books in this series to learn more about Abigail’s life before her marriage and the relationship between the married couple. I was most intrigued by the research of the author, Vanessa Riley, by connecting more details of some of the characters and the part they played in history as a pro-abolitionist and other characters of color to which I was unaware. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an ARC; this is my honest review.

Welp. I gave it a shot and did finish but it wasn’t really my jam. I am not big on regency and this one moved too slowly to hold my interest. The writing is good though and Im confident Riley will do well with this book. Opting not to rate this one. It’s not a bad book, it just didn’t hit for me.

I enjoyed the overall framing for this one. Great to see Black characters and the abolitionist movement contexualized in a period that fiction has largely presented as very white. But I didn't find the execution as a mystery all that compelling. Although the murder happens quickly, not a lot happens after that in the first 40%, Someone else seems to be doing most of the work, so Lady Worthing doesn't look like much of a sleuth, either practically or through her fledgling abilities at clairvoyance. The ending also wasn't particularly satisfying.

When I see a new historical mystery series coming I pay attention as it's one of my favorite genres. I enjoyed Murder in Westminster and the main character of Abigail, Lady Worthington. She is a woman of color who has married up and is living a single life. This is Regency England and The Ton rules. With her husband out of the picture and a neighbor who is a thorn in her side, the last thing she needs is to discover the very dead body of his estranged wife. He gives them an alibi when the police ask questions and she can't very well deny his statement because she has her own secrets to keep hidden. She is involved with the pro-abolition movement.
The mystery itself was well constructed and I did like the characters of Abigail and Henderson but what I really enjoyed were the setting and the history. As a first in series (I hope there will be many more) the book had the usual ups and downs that come with setting the stage for future entries.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Engaging!

An interesting and puzzling new Regency mystery from Vanessa Riley. I swam about in a maze of questions before deciding to just go with the flow and hope all would be revealed.
Lady Abigail Worthing is wife to absentee sea captain, Captain James Munroe, Lord Worthing
Here’s the thing, she keeps referring to having saved her husband from Newgate, in doing so she somehow lost or was lost to her sister Dinah, and become Baroness Worthing. I’m no closer to this story—did I miss something, or will all be revealed in the next in the series?
Lady Worthington is a woman of color, a Blackamoor with a Jamaican mother and a Scottish father, and has to be careful, too careful, about where she goes and who she sees. There are those like her godfather Mr. Vaughn who keep waiting for the gift of foresight to blossom. Annoying to Abbie.
This time though she sees, as in really there’s a body, the wife of her neighbor dead on the garden between their properties.
Abbie’s also hiding that she secretly supports William Wilberforce and the Clapham set and has evidence from her husband of the despicable and horrendous circumstances slaves are forced to endure. However Wilberforce’s meetings are constrained, secretive even, due to the uprising in Haiti.
Having helped the magistrate Lord Duncan before, she feels duty bound to assist him in his investigations. If only to throw her own innocence into relief.
But then the bodies begin piling up. She unveils the culprit, but we’re left wondering if that’s all there was.
Meanwhile where is her sister Dinah, what exactly happened to have Abbie married to naval Captain James Munroe, and when will her husband return from his voyage? There’s many moving parts. Trying to keep all the people and their relationships straight in my head is a challenge, yet still,
Questions remain!

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

I really enjoyed this book and I’m quite happy that it’s part of a series. I immediately liked Abbie a strong lead woman character way ahead of her time. I loved the fun facts at the end of the book how some characters and places were
real. After Abbie finds a body on her property she has to figure out whether her neighbor Stapleton Henderson murdered his wife Juliet

I really love starting a brand new mystery series that lives up to its full potential. Set in Regency-era London, this tells the story of amateur sleuth Lady Abigail Worthington. The setting is unique, as well as the rolls of race and abolitionism during this time period. The author offers readers a thoughtfully portrayed perspective and it was both interesting and refreshing to read about. I loved Abigail, a spunky, strong-willed woman of color who doesn’t put up with any of the stereotypical rolls assigned to her. I have already told others about this excellent new series and am excited to recommend this to library patrons who enjoy unique period cozies. I look forward to reading more of the exploits of Lady Worthington!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I’m typically very excited for a new Vanessa Riley book, and despite Murder in Westminster being her first foray into mystery, I was willing to give it a chance. But while this book is not quite a cozy, it still did not excite me as much as I’d expect a mystery to do. There are some suspenseful elements, but I was rather underwhelmed by all of it, even the reveal at the end.
Vanessa Riley does really shine in terms of her historical research, and that is no different here. She expertly toes the line between exploring the untapped potential of the lives of the real untold stories of Black and mixed-race people in 19th century Britain, dispelling the myth their stories all of them are tied to trauma, while also providing a space within the fantasia of the typically-white Regency subgenre by speculating about the possibility of white-passing mixed race people who married among the aristocracy.
And while I found most of the plot a bit lackluster, the character of Abigail is interesting in how she moves within society. She’s part of the abolitionist movement at a key time in British history (just prior to the end of the slave trade), but needs to keep that secret, and I appreciate how her background as a Black woman married to an aristocrat is touched on, highlighting the racism and prejudice that exists in society. I appreciate the sensitivity with which Riley handles her being implicated in the plot due to her already controversial reputation, avoiding making the narrative into one centered too heavily on trauma.
I admit to being very picky about mysteries, and while I’m a bit more apprehensive about this series going forward, as this wouldn’t be the first time a popular romance author has let me down with their mystery series (although for a different reason). However, given my interest in Abigail as a strong lead, and the fact that this is Vanessa Riley’s first outing within the historical mystery genre, I am willing to give her another chance to see if the series improves as it goes on.

This is such a great start to a mystery series! I loved our heroine and the developing relationship with her neighbor. I enjoyed seeing her hold her head high while also recognizing the privilege that she has because of her marriage. The supporting cast of characters is really great, and there is so much potential there for future books. The mystery was the weakest spot, but that is always to be expected in a first book where setup is needed. I am so glad I read this book, and I can't wait for future installments.

The first in a series of future Lady Worthing mysteries, this first outing has Lady Worthing racing against time to find a killer who has taken multiple lives - including her neighbor’s estranged wife. Will she be able to clear her neighbors name, and her own?

I liked this book (3 stars is a like in my book). The mystery was fun and intriguing and I always appreciate Riley’s diverse characters and the realities of the era. I was particularly moved by the descriptions of slavery that Lady Worthing is trying to get in the hands of critical abolitionists. It is a stark and important reminder of life in the era.

Riley lays a few breadcrumbs throughout the book that will likely come to fruition in future installments. I’m interested to learn more about what happened with Lady Worthing’s sister, and would definitely pick up the next one to find out more.

All in all, a fast paced mystery that I’d recommend to regency fans

This title was a DNF for me. I had high hopes for it going in. I enjoy historical mysteries, particularly those that examine issues of race, class, and gender. On the other hand, I loathe romance novels—and the histrionics in the first part of this novel left me feeling unenthusiastic and distanced from the characters. I think a reader who enjoys romances would experience this book much more positively than I did.

DNF at 25%

Combining two of my favorite genres, historical mysteries are typically like candy to me. Normally, they are the key to getting me out of a reading slump.

Murder in Westminster did the exact opposite.

The first book in a new series by Vanessa Riley, Murder in Westminster reads as if it is part of a greater universe - one of which I have no reference for. The amount of references to people and events that I apparently should have already known about when I picked this book up made for an immensely frustrating reading experience. While I do think that the concept is great, this aspect of the execution ultimately left me with no choice but to DNF.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I read this book expecting 2 things 1) great characters – this is based on my past experience of reading a previous work by this author and 2) a fascinating mystery.

Don’t we all want our mysteries to be fascinating? In Murder in Westminster, Lady Abigail Worthing is investigating not one but two murders. I was disappointed in the mystery solving aspect. Hard clues were outweighed by intuition. Having said that, you should know that Abigail has the dubious gift of second sight, so it may be that intuition is her best tool. Still, I kept wanting solid detective work.

On the other hand, I loved the characters! Abigail is a strong, intelligent black woman who has had the fortune and drive to marry a man with a title. Then her husband leaves her home alone to go travelling. And so she does pretty much what she wants even though her friends tell her not to. She wants to help with the abolitionist movement. She wants to solve mysteries. Both activities are likely to get her into trouble/dangers. Abigail’s cousin and godfather are also great characters that bring their own quirks to the mystery solving table.

The neighbor, Stapleton Henderson, is prickly, opinionated, and about to divorce his wife. But Mrs. Henderson is the first victim, so he is also a suspect. He is good with dogs (that scores him points). But he is not above resorting to blackmail (points deducted). Henderson and Abigail start off arguing over a fence and end up working together to find a murderer. Ultimately, I think Henderson is good, but truly that is left a bit murky.

The author has provided some great historical detail at the end of the book. It may even be a good idea to read that part first.

So, in Murder in Westminster, we have two lonely neighbors who will likely be getting into more trouble in the future. I see them honing their mystery solving abilities, while they become close friends.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book. My review is my honest opinion.