"Agatha Christie meets Bridgerton" is how this book has been described. Unfortunately it is not nearly as sexy as Bridgerton and the mystery was just OK. I really found the characters unlikeable in this book. They gossip. They judge. They look down on the little people. This made me more skim the story than really get invested in it. The romance had no chemistry and no real crescendo.

Overall, this clearly wasn't the book for me. But if you love historical mysteries, it may be up your alley. This book is the start of a series I will not be continuing.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy of this book for my honest opinion.

I had trouble getting into Act Like a Lady, I think it's just the wrong genre for me. The hook of Bridgerton meets Agatha Christie was appealing, and I expected it to be a bit quicker and wittier, having me laugh out loud the way Julia Quinn's books do. I found there was a lot of info-dumping at the beginning, which had me zoning out while reading it, and I didn't love the heroine, Petra. I think regular readers of Regency might enjoy this more than I did -- my exposure has really only been the Bridgerton books, which are lighter and faster.

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord
By Celeste Connally
Historical Mystery
Minotaur Books
November 2023

Lady Petra Forsyth may be an only daughter of an aristocrat, but she's no simpering society miss. She loves riding horses, speaking her mind and standing up for herself. And she doesn't need a man to prove her worth. Not many in the British aristocracy are like her.

In Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord, a novel that sets up a series of historical fiction equal parts mystery and romance, Petra is her own woman who hasn't let bad things keep her down. For instance, her best friend hasn't spoken to her in three years. This is after she and that friend, Duncan Shawcross, grew up together. He was a by-blow who was farmed out by his lordly father to Petra's household. Their mutual love of horses and daring each other was the basis of such a strong friendship that Duncan covered for Petra and her fiancé when they spent nights together before marriage. Then her fiancé died, and Duncan didn't answer Petra's letter while traveling through Europe.

As a way to avoid her stodgy, complaining Uncle Tobias when he invades her father's country estate to chastise them, Petra and her friend Lady Caroline attend the ball of the Duchess of Hillmorton. The episode is written with precisely the tone of dialogue and people weaving in and out of conversations that are a mainstay of Regency romances. Petra is not there to gossip, but to find out what she can of the untimely death of another society friend. Whose husband doesn't appear to be in mourning.

Her friend wasn't the only one to disappear. An asylum in the country seems to be involved. When Petra arranges to meet her late friend's house servant in the park, he is killed and Petra hit by a rock. Fortunately, the rock was thrown by Teddy, a street urchin who didn't know he was paid to hit his benefactress.

Petra soon forms a circle of like-minded folk determined to find out what is happening to the disappeared or dying women. She has her society friend Lady Caroline, Baker Street Irregular urchin Teddy, a young woman who trains society dogs and, eventually, Duncan. Even though their misunderstanding continues, as it does in romances, they are soon on the same side in the investigatory side of the story.

When Petra gets closer to solving the mystery, her own life is imperiled. Because author Celeste Connally has created a can-do heroine, don't assume she will be waiting for a knight in shining armor to rescue her.

The novel has two distinct tones. Half of the story is a wittily written Regency romance. The other, even when the whodunit tropes are observed, delves into dark territory concerning the rights of women in a society that dictates how free they actually are -- even women in the higher reaches of society. There also are psychological complexities that are woven into the story involving women sent to an asylum.

More traditional readers may wonder at how enlightened Petra and her circle are. She is not the type to wait for marriage to express how she feels about a lover. In that, she is staying true to her character. The unlikely aspect is that her partner supports her decision. The ways in which some LGBTQ characters lead their own lives fit into the constraints of the society in which they live, as long as there is discreteness.

Connally sets up a second novel at the end of this one that fits in with the characters. As long as she can navigate the dual nature of the circle she has created, Lady Petra could well feature in a long series of entertaining fictions. She is heiress to the early Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters and the Lady Julia Grey mysteries by Deanna Raybourne.

I really liked this book, it was different than anything else I've read which was a breath of fresh air. I will be recommending this to my friends, and auto buy this author!

It's been a long time since I've read a book that has equal parts entertained and angered me lol I really enjoyed the mystery, and the exploration of 19th century society life, with the exception of the very real depiction of women's rights during that time. It definitely made for a good read! I gotta day though, I'm a little upset that ot ended on a cliffhanger! Totally rude to write a fantastic debut that's not only the first in a series, but also ends in the way it did! Now I have to wait for the next book, and it's not fair! (Totally kidding, I'm happy to wait! Kind of...🫠) lol It's safe to say I'll be eagerly awaiting the next installment of this fantastic new series!

This book was a great beginning to a cozy mystery series! I enjoyed the historical aspects of the story and thought it was well written. I loved that Petra had a Weimaraner! I can't wait to read more in this series!

Verity Bright is my standard for all period novels. I really love that writing team that created the Eleanor Swift cozy mystery novels which are set in the early 20th century. Having just discovered Celeste Connolly and completed her novel, “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord” I am declaring her the standard bearer for the 19th Century cozy mystery series with heroine, Lady Petra Forsyth. She is one amazing woman, defying social standards, wearing her brother’s trousers so she can ride astride instead of side saddle and who has declared that she will not marry and remain a spinster. None of this is going to be well accepted by society.

I am going to name drop once more to make a salient point. I recently finished “The Madwomen of Paris” by Jennifer Cody Epstein which centers on the plight of women who could be committed to institutions by husbands and men who got bored with their wives, lovers, sisters, mothers and only had to mention the word “hysteria”. This subject hovers around the edges of Celeste Connally’s book as well. Lady Petra Forsyth has her father’s support as well as her ladies maid Annie who is her friend and her conscience, but she also has so many detractors and is walking a very fine line. Nice society just isn’t ready for all the ways she flaunts the etiquette off the time in which she lives. The question becomes what will tip her over the edge and what will the consequences be?

There is humor while honestly exploring the constraints of early 1800 English society. The dialog is honest and interesting. The examination of the societal strictures was a constant eye opener how closely bright, adventurous women had to outthink any man who had any control. There is romance, almost, maybe, could be and that tension worked for me. The characters run the gamut from sympathetic to hateful and disgusting and are well described and acted.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy.

Bridgerton meets Agatha Christie? Yes, please. This was a solid story that really drew me in. If you are looking for something that's going to make you want to binge read, this is it!

Thank you the publisher and Netgalley for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

Thank you @minotaurbooks for the ARC of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord - which is out now!

This was enjoyable enough and had twists that made me curious about how the series continues in the next book, but it was also very predictable. I also didn’t think the feminist commentary was particularly nuanced - mostly highlighting how little power and control women had at this point in history.
The ending of the book and the plot twists were darker than I expected from the first half of the book, which worked for me but was also a little disturbing.

Finally, I wanted more romance! For a book marketed as Agatha Christie meets Bridgerton, it lacked the expected romance.

Overall, it was fine. I’m not sure I’ll continue the series, but I am curious about how the plot continues.

This was a refreshing, excellent Bridgerton-esque mystery!

I loved the female power displayed in this book, as well as the development of the storyline. Overall, it kept me engaged and I was also curious about the romance subplot.

I would definitely read a sequel by Connally and will be recommending this!

this was very light and fun, though i think i'll have to keep searching for the perfect historical romantic mystery. we move

Lady Petra Forsyth lost her fiance tragically, and while society pressures her to finally marry, she’s decided that she can’t find true love twice, so why bother? She has a fortune, an indulgent father, and has decided that the life of a spinster has more advantages than being married to some man who will gamble her money away. Upon her return to London from a stay at her father’s country estate, she hears the sad news that one of her friends passed away. However, one of the footmen swears that he saw the friend just a week ago. Thinking that both things can’t be true, Petra arranges to meet the footman – but he is killed before he can speak to her. Deeply aware that something is wrong, Petra sets out to find the truth of where her friend might be.

Among the main plot of Petra’s investigation is the return of her childhood friend, Duncan. He joined the army immediately after Petra’s fiancee died and never returned any of Petra’s letters. The thread of their reunion is woven throughout the book, with Duncan being a key element and protector. As you know, I am a sucker for mystery-romance, so I really liked this tangent. It added more depth to Petra, which I liked.

Not that Petra is a shallow character; she is well-rounded and perfectly aware that she’d be a pariah for announcing her spinsterhood if not for the support of the powerful society ladies, who just happen to like her. She’s logical and level-headed: Petra doesn’t need a secondary character to point out the truths of things, and she doesn’t do anything dramatic when she encounters Duncan – just acts like a hurt woman normally would. In short, Petra thinks and acts like a real woman, for the most part. She doesn’t make outlandish assumptions and is logical. I like her.

This book has feminist tones, but I don’t think they’re overtly or overly stated. I appreciate that Connally used a realistic historical scenario for the mystery and highlighted an actual, scary problem for women of this period. This novel is believable because it could have been/was real – and that affects me more than anything else could. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord makes the reader sympathize and empathize with women’s limited options in Regency England, and it’s couched in a well-written mystery with a sprinkle of romance. At the end, I reflected on how likely of a candidate I would have been for [an unfortunate thing that would spoil the plot], and I hope that male and female readers alike do the same.

All in all, I’d say this was a great example of how to convey a message while being entertaining. Readers follow Petra through a well-plotted mystery, a crisis of conscience, and a budding romance, and they’re left thinking about just how far the treatment of women has come since the 1800’s. I, for one, am so glad I live now when I can wear pants and read without being thought a witch! I certainly doubt I would have been allowed to write a blog.

Oh – did I forget to mention the tantalizing cliffhanger at the end??

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this copy of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord! I truly love the Minotaur Samplers that come out every season and allow me to read a small sample of 4 or 5 books and then request or later buy the entire book. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord is a fine example. I would never have picked up this title without the sampler.

This is the first in what promises to be a series of mysteries featuring Lady Petra Forsyth, Duncan Shawcross and a bad of other Englishmen and women. While it might not be brilliantly written it was definitely entertaining and enlightening about the unjustness done to some women of noble birth and bad marriages. The men held all the power and most of the money. The combination of power and greed resulted in some terrible actions, which Lady Petra was very skilled at unraveling.

Great literature? Maybe not, but a cut above what I expected. I’ll be looking for more of Lady Petra in coming books.

I enjoyed this cozy historical mystery with a hint of romance. Petra's determination and logic make her a great sleuth and she really stands up for those being abused and mistreated. There are many delightful secondary characters with notable traits as well. The mystery is not a challenge to solve, but seeing resolution come to those who perpetrated the crime was very satisfying and it ended with a hint of another book to come. I listened to the audiobook and I thought it was very well done and a joy to listen to.

This first entry in a Regency cozy mystery series moves softly along as it follows Lady Petra Forsyth's daily life as the only daughter of an Earl and a woman of independent means due to a legacy from her mother. She scandalized upper crust London when she announced a decision to remain unmarried coming under fire from all segments of society. When she hears that a good friend whom she had seen recently had passed away suddenly she becomes suspicious. Further investigation reveals that several prominent women have suddenly disappeared raising her hackles further. Talking to friends as well as those below stairs she finds ties to a questionable doctor and his private asylum. Petra is a well developed character and the plot addresses feminist issues that began in this period of time and spotlights a social evil of the times where women were vulnerable to manipulative men. It is a historical fact that many were wrongly incarcerated when a husband or parent found them difficult or tired of them. Petra's own freedom is threatened but she is determined to expose this despicable practice and rescue these women. A solid entertaining read..

I was so very intrigued by Celeste Connally’s novel Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord. This new mystery series is set during the Regency-era and I’ve been enjoying these fun, historical mystery series featuring female amateur sleuths. This one, though? Meh. I finished it but I was only mildly invested and if it had been a library book? I probably would have DNF-ed it.

Here’s the book’s description:
When Lady Petra Forsyth’s fiancé and soulmate dies just weeks ahead of their wedding, she makes the shocking proclamation—in front of London’s loosest lips—that she will never remarry. A woman of independent means, Petra sees no reason to cede her wealth and freedom to any man now that the love of her life has passed, nor does she intend to become confined to her country home. Instead, she uses her title to gain access to elite spaces and enjoy the best of society without expectations.
But when ballroom gossip suggests that a longtime friend has died of “melancholia” while in the care of a questionable physician, Petra vows to use her status to dig deeper—uncovering a private asylum where men pay to have their wives and daughters locked away, or worse. Just as Lady Petra has reason to believe her friend is not dead, but a prisoner, her own headstrong actions and thirst for independence are used to put her own freedom in jeopardy.
This was the first book in the new Lady Petra Inquires series and also Connally’s first novel. Knowing it was the first in the series made it a little confusing when Petra referenced a number of past escapades on a number of occasions. As it was, I actually had to check a few times to make sure I was right and it WAS the first in a series. It was just so strange that she was mentioning these things that there was no way the reader would have experienced and it was weirdly difficult to let go of the annoyance.

I know historical fiction, romances especially, have a tendency to put our modern sensibilities onto characters who are living in the past. I can normally look past it and enjoy the story for the entertaining romp that it’s supposed to be. But with this one, I wasn’t really sure how I was supposed to be feeling about how progressive Petra was. Was I supposed to be impressed that Petra hated that women were treated like property? Shocked that she had no problem with her best friend’s husband being gay (don’t worry - both her friend and her husband took lovers and their marriage was an amiable, if not a sexual, one)? I was neither impressed nor shocked and maybe that was just because of how the story was written. Maybe it was I found Connally was trying to beat the reader over the head with how open-minded Petra was and I really don’t think that was necessary.

I really only kept reading to find out what had happened to Petra’s friend, Lady Milford, and to see if they could stop whoever it was from harming the women of the ton. And honestly? I think I was disappointed. The mystery had a lot of potential that I just don’t think it lived up to. That could potentially be because I was so deeply uncomfortable with the ultimate villain and the extreme gaslighting (and physical and other emotional abuse) happening. I just wanted it to be over and couldn’t relish Petra solving the case.

Finally, the relationship between Petra and Duncan was so…weird. I’m a big fan of friends to lovers so obviously I wanted them to get over whatever had pushed them apart three years prior and get together romantically. But...I couldn’t really figure out what on earth that incident was. And why they were both so stubborn about it and wanted to stay mad at each other instead of getting over it. The hostility of Petra especially was so confusing. Another thing I couldn't quite let go.

So, all in all, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord was not a winner for me. I don’t think I’ll read the next Lady Petra Inquires book but I think I’d still be interested in reading another of Celeste Connally’s novels in the future.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Minotaur, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Book was just okay. A lot of dialogue that was witty but the plot didn't move along as fast as I like. Probably a good pick for a relaxing read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. #sponsored

Celeste Connally's "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord" is a captivating Regency-era mystery that combines elements of Bridgerton with Agatha Christie, all while adding a feminist touch. While I occasionally put the book down due to the stress induced by the imminent peril, the overall experience was delightful.
The antagonist in the story is genuinely evil. Connally skillfully weaves a tale of suspense with many implied abuses (thankfully not “on screen”), creating a chilling and engrossing atmosphere. The protagonist, Lady Petra Forsyth, is a strong and independent woman who, despite making some frustratingly dumb choices, manages to captivate readers with her resilience. The feminist undertones and Sherlock vibes add an intriguing layer to the narrative.
The book's strength lies in its portrayal of relationships, particularly among the women in the story. The challenges they face in navigating the dance of social niceties and misogyny in 1815 are depicted with authenticity and sensitivity. The dynamics between the characters, especially Lady Petra, contribute significantly to the richness of the plot.
The cliffhanger ending leaves readers eager for more, and I plan to continue reading the series. Despite my occasional disconnect with the Victorian-era setting, the compelling characters and the well-crafted mystery kept me engaged. "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord" successfully combines historical fiction, mystery, and feminist themes, making it a worthy addition to the Regency-era genre.

This book starts out very slow. You're kind of thrown into the middle of something and it leaves you wondering, was there another book before this that I missed? It does get better once you get into the meat of the story and the mystery was pretty well done. It was a very messed up premise, but something that probably happened, although not on such a large scale, then again who knows. One thing that I liked is that it was written more like the old style Regency books, but yet it didn't follow rules exactly. I mean Petra is all over the place without a chaperone, so it was kind of contradictory, which bothers me some, but it seems all Regency books are like that now. The biggest problem I had with this book is info dumps! Lots of info dumps. Sometimes they had no point to the story and should have been deleted during edits. I like the two main characters a great deal and despised the villains, but there were too many characters in this story. The author balanced them pretty well, but it was distracting trying to keep track of everyone, so I hope next time there aren't as many. I would give this author one more shot and read the second book, but if the info dumps aren't dealt with, that will be it for me.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for sending an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Step into Regency England beyond the balls and fancy dresses. An upper class lead doesn't care much about following social rules. Even less so when she hears about a friend's death under unusual circumstances. It leads her on an adventure during which she pulls in a street kid, her fellow ladies, and a childhood maybe-more-than-friend.

When I initially dove into this, I thought it would be a light rom-com-type novel, but it was so much more. It explores the idea of a time when men could commit their wives to an asylum without any cause other than their inconvenience. It was something a friend just told me about after reading about an asylum not too far from my hometown in the middle of the US that did the same thing. It is a frightening historical fact that is handled with the seriousness it deserves while having a redeeming ending to bring the mood back up just before a shocking twist...that may or may not be true. Highly recommended!