Trapped in a chalet in a blizzard, Lady Emily and her husband are houseguests and attempt to figure out who is trying to kill who really after the daughter of the owner is shot while out on a sleighride with her husband.

Thank you to Net galley for an advance copy of this book.
I have read all the Lady Emily novels and loved the early ones and usually enjoyed the later ones. This latest, not so much. With Emily, Colin and Cecelia in Bavaria for some odd reason, a murder is committed and a snowstorm prevents the police from getting to the location. So of course, Lady Emily and Colin must figure things out. The remaining characters are mostly paper thin and dislikable. The dialogue is blunt and even the relationship between Emily and Colin is off. I think he has already taught her everything . The secondary story is boring and although it ties in at the end doesn’t really advance the story much.

I love Lady Emily and Colin Hargreaves, this used to be my favorite Historical Mystery Series, sad to say it has dwindled to an exercise in intellectual pomposity. Lady Emily has gone from a kind, intelligent young lady to a cigar smoking obnoxious feminist extraordinaire! The enjoyable scenery and story behind King Ludwig is a great setting for a murder, and yes for me, the murderer was obvious, I think what has happened is Lady Emily's overwhelming desire to show off her intellectual capabilities overshadows common sense! I lived forty - five minutes from Neushweinstein, I could see the Alps from our apartment, it was number one on the list of all of our visitors for three years, and it is breathtaking, as I said, a lovely spot for mischief. I would have enjoyed more of Colin, less of Lady Emily's self - aggrandizement.
Thank you #Netgalley
carolintallahassee

Lady Emily and her husband Colin are invited to the Bavarian home of Baroness Ursula von Duchtel to discover who is responsible for accidents happening to her son-in-law. The home is in the shadow of Neuschwanstein, the fairy tale castle designed by King Ludwig in the late 1800s. The dual storyline covers the life of Ludwig and his desire to only be surrounded by beauty. The other storyline focuses on the attempt to murder Kaspar. When several accidents occur, Kaspar brushes them off but when one turns deadly, Lady Emily and Colin dig deeper into the murder. I always enjoy this series and this one was especially fascinating to me because I almost saw Neuschwanstein on a trip to Bavaria, but the weather did not cooperate. The descriptions of the castle make me want to go back.

I have to be honest: I am really tired of the "two stories in one book" thing that Alexander has been doing for her past several novels. It detracted a lot from my enjoyment of the Lady Emily series. It felt like a gimmick and made me think that Alexander just couldn't think up a plot that would fill an entire book, so she had to add in another story to fill space. This time the gimmick works better, though, because there is a much tighter nexus between the Lady Emily mystery and the secondary storyline. It actually deals with the early life of one of the characters in the book. Let's hope this trend continues, because I really enjoy the characters in the series, and I think Alexander is a talented writer.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of the book! I was not influenced by the free copy while writing this review.

I love the Lady Emily series, and this locked room mystery is one of the best entries to date.

A disparate group arrives at a villa in the alps for a house party. When one guest becomes the target of a series of attacks, fingers start pointing. As a blizzard moves in, trapping and isolating guests and servants alike, the attacks escalate to murder, and it will be up to Lady Emily and her handsome husband to sort out the lies and misdirections, to bring a killer to justice.

Full of twists and turns, this historical fiction. Is highly recommended for all audiences. #DeathByMisadventure #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthors

The 18th story in the Lady Emily series finds Emily and her husband, Colin, in Bavaria, at a house party with an odd assortment of people. They are staying at the recently completed home of Baroness Ursula von Duchtel, an opulent villa specially built to house her incredible art collection. The baroness is a friend of Emily and Colin’s friend, Cecile. The other guests include the baroness’ daughter, Sigrid, and her husband, Kaspar, described as a boor and a brute.

Soon after everyone arrives, Kaspar is plagued by numerous accidents. At first dismissed as pranks by Kaspar – and most everyone else, aside from Emily and Colin -- the incidents multiply and escalate, forcing the group to start to consider whether someone is seriously attempting to murder Kaspar, or simply wishes to intimidate him. Eventually, a murder does occur, and with the roads impassable due to a snowstorm in the Alps, Emily and Colin step in to investigate.

Sad to say, this book was a disappointment. It is structured with a dual timeline—events in 1906 when the house party takes place alternate with events 40 years earlier when King Ludwig II was building his “Fairy Castle” in the same region. This approach was distracting, constantly pulling you out of one story and into another with a totally different cast of characters. Of course, eventually the two stories intersect, but to get to that point, far too much time is spent on King Ludwig. This really impedes the flow of the mystery portion of the story, interfering with the continuity of the primary narrative. In addition, most of characters in both time periods were unlikeable, making the story tedious overall.
Earlier entries in the series were much more enjoyable than this latest installment. This one was a miss for me.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for the ARC.

I love books of rich people trapped in fierce climates. Emily and Colin are an engaging couple and watching them work together is always my favorite part of this series. Set in the Bavarian Alps, the story is woven into the story of the Mad King Ludwig's attempt to build his masterpiece of a castle. I was genuinely surprised by the ending, and loved the story.

Tasha’s books in this series almost always have dual storylines that intersect at the end. It was interesting to see how Niel and Ludwig's story connected to the main storyline. I always enjoy reading these mysteries, especially since each book is set in a new location. I look forward to seeing where Emily and Colin travel next.

I've been reading the Lady Emily books for over a decade and always wait with great anticipation for the next book! This one wasn't my favorite - I don't love the alternatively timelines - but it was great to see some old favorites like Cecile back on the page!

"Death by Misadventure" is a mystery set in 1906 in the Bavarian alps. There's also a secondary story going on in 1868 that details a romance between the king and the husband of one of the characters in the 1906 timeline.

Emily and Colin asked good questions, followed up on clues, and considered possible scenarios until she figured out what was going on. Frankly, I guessed whodunit before the murder even happened then decided it was too obvious. By the end, I felt like this whodunit wasn't really convincing. Mostly, the murder need so much planning and preparation yet whodunit couldn't have known the opportunity would present itself until it did. I don't know. The mystery just didn't seem realistic or satisfying, and I didn't find the 1868 story interesting. It could have been completely cut without affecting the mystery.

There were no sex scenes, though sex was implied. There were only a few uses of bad language. This book is the 18th in a series. You can understand this book without reading the previous ones, and this story didn't spoil the mysteries or major events of the previous books.

I enjoyed this greatly having been to Neuschwanstein Castle myself - except when I went it was with my parents, not with a handsome and debonair husband like Colin (sigh, life is so unfair). I am always delighted to read a new Lady Emily mystery, and while this one was one of the more easy mysteries to figure out before the 'big reveal', I still really liked being back with beloved characters while having a dual-time plot. Although this novel can be read alone, I do recommend reading all of the previous books, as they are wonderful.

It's 1906 and Emily and Colin are invited to accompany their friend Cecile to visit one of Cecile's friends in the Bavarian Alps, close to the famous castle of Neuschwanstein built by Ludwig II. There are several houseguests visiting, and after a series of attacks on one guest, another person is killed. Conveniently to the plot, a blizzard prevents the police from coming to investigate, so Emily and Colin start looking into the murder and other attacks.

Similar to many of the recent mysteries in the series by Tasha Alexander, the novel contains two stories in alternating chapters - one is the tale of Ludwig II and his small circle of friends, and the other is the mystery Emily and Colin are trying to solve. I found the chapters with Ludwig less compelling and skimmed or skipped them, but the storylines do merge. The author leaves abundant clues for the reader to figure out who committed the modern-day crimes so the ending will probably not come as a surprise. Despite being #18 in the series, this can be read as a standalone. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Press for the ARC.

The latest installment of the Lady Emily series takes us the Bavarian Alps, the setting of the fairy tale castle Neuschwanstein, during the year 1906, Traveling with their friend Cecile, Emily and her husband Colin become involved with a eclectic group of people, all of whom become suspects when of them is killed after a series of strange "accidents" -- all of which are too suspicious to really be accidents.

Interwoven with the murder whodunit is a storyline set forty years in the past, before Kind Ludwig has begun construction on Neuschwanstein. He becomes involved with a young lord, Niels. Their friendship deepens into something more profound over time. But politics and gay love affairs don't make a good match, especially in the nineteenth century.

Lady Emily mysteries almost always have dual storylines that intersect at the end, and this is no exception. It was interesting to see how Niel and Ludwig's story connected to the main storyline.

I always enjoy reading these mysteries, especially since each book is set in a new location. I look forward to seeing where Emily and Colin travel next. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my opinions.

I never thought I’d be disappointed with a Lady Emily mystery, but this one proved me wrong.
I hope this series hasn’t run its course, as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed most of the others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The last two books I’ve read use the structure of switching between two narratives in different times. I suppose this convention works if the reader is equally interested in both sets of characters. I was not.. I stopped midway through the book - I was skipping over the Ludwig sections. For a double narrative to work and resolve into one conclusion there needs to be some interest in what happens next for both scenarios.