Someone has set out to ruin Niall by exposing his secrets. Kara works with him to find and stop these people before chaos occurs. Working together finds them even more attracted to each other. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for my honest review.

This is my first book in this series. It is a solid murder mystery. With interesting characters and a good story that keeps you interested.

When the fabric of society is threatened!

A celebration by the Club at Lake Nemi honoring the Huntress Diana has an unforeseen consequence. A dismissed servant is found on the grounds stabbed.
The link to Kara Levett? (Apart from the fact the Kara owns the area around Lake Nemi and the lake) The maid has been stabbed by a distinctive knife forged by Gyda Winther, Niall Kier’s forge assistant, for another another young serving woman, Beth. Gyda lives and works on Kara’s property at Bluefield Park.
Fortuitously Kara has an alibi, as does Beth, not that the two Scotland Yard detectives are light handed in their questioning. Very unfriendly! Where is Kara’s contact at the yard Inspector Wooten?
The stabbed maid is Sally Doughty, ex-personal maid to Malina, Viscountess Marston, a piece of work whom we don’t like, and who was once hand-fasted! (Yes! What!) to Niall!
We learn more about Niall and his explosive history, that could bring down the royal family, in a plot to sew discord across Britain and Europe by a mysterious organization, The League.
Treason and uprising are threatening! As are profiteering conspiracies!
The compassionate decision Niall and Kiera made at the end, is I suspect going to haunt them in the future.
A fast paced intrigue, with action flying across the pages.
I recommend if coming new to this fantastic series that you start with the first title, “A Killer in the Crystal Palace.”

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

I’ve enjoyed this series involving two unusual protagonists, Kara and Niall, who end up investigating mysterious goings on in mid-19th century London.

This story involves a murder that it is bound up in s bigger conspiracy to basically cause so much disorder based on public hysteria about the mystery of Niall’s background that it would bring down the government. That mystery has been hinted at in the earlier books and we finally find out what that mystery is. Hint: it’s similar to the mystery concerning Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell.

The villains in Marlowe’s story are extremely organized until…they aren’t, but it was still fun reading the book. I look forward to reading the next entry in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review

This book was so good. It has a little bit of everything, beautiful romance, spice, tension, suspence, mystery, you name it.

It has a nice build of tension and romance. The main story line is interesting as well. It has a mystery to be solved and some suspenseful scenes as well. It does have a little violence. To me, this book was the perfect dessert, a little sweet and a little salty.

This riveting, attention-grabbing book is the best of the series so far. Seriously, I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down! The characters are deep and rich and so very relatable and the mystery is filled with suspense and breath-holding excitement. The writing is excellent, the pacing is perfect, the villains are vile, and the supporting characters are witty, intelligent, and endearing. So, what is not to love?

We’ve been waiting for the revelation of Niall’s tightly-held secret and boy did we get it. This whole mystery is about unscrupulous villains nosing around to discover the very well-hidden secret – and being willing to commit any atrocity – murder, kidnapping, robbery, to discover the secret. Or, more importantly, to find the proof of the secret. What is it about this secret that makes it worth all the villains have done – hmmm – you’ll just have to read the book to find out.

The murder of lady’s maid, Sally Doughty, during a ceremony at Lake Nemi, is what piques Kara’s interest. With Niall’s absence, Kara has concentrated on healing from her injury on their last case and catching up with her many orders for custom automatons. However, this murder, it was on her property and she just simply cannot leave it to the police to solve – especially when they are off in all the wrong directions.

As she investigates, she comes to learn the murder has something to do with Niall and his secret. Thank goodness Niall secretly returns to London and they begin to work together to solve the murder and to find who is behind the push to find the documentation of Niall’s secret.

It is harrowing, death-defying, heart-pumping excitement from the first page till the last and I highly recommend the book. Along with our previous supporting cast, we finally get to meet – and love – Niall’s best friend, Rob McRae. I’ll look forward to seeing more of him in future books. I’ll also be looking forward to seeing what villain pops up to beg for a take-down in the next book.

I was happy to see Niall and Kara’s relationship grow – with promises given. I can hardly wait for the next book to see what happens in the romance department. In the meantime, think about Niall’s description of the two of them together – he’s comparing their relationship to a diptych painting.

“I feel like it’s what we are. Both of us complete. Functioning and effective. Creative. Whole, in and of ourselves. But place us together and the world expands. Everything becomes bigger, more beautiful and powerful.”

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The third book in the excellent Kier and Levett series doesn’t disappoint. This outing has Kara and Niall navigating a murder that turns into a much bigger plot and that brings in secrets from Niall’s past. The plot never drags, moving quickly through twists and discoveries, and the author doesn’t feel the need to add to the drama by introducing unnecessary challenges to Kara and Niall’s deepening relationship. A few plot points seemed to be set aside rather quickly, but overall a thoroughly enjoyable and well-written entry in a great series. I would highly recommend reading the previous two entries first- they’re also great, so it’s worthwhile anyway.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.