Mary Winters continues a Lady of Letters mysteries in Murder in Season. Countess Amelia Amesbury is an aristocrat and a secret agony advice columnist. When her sister comes to London to be launched for the season and to get away from trouble at home, a murder occurs in her ballroom The policeman tries to implicate her sister. Lady Amesbury must find the murderer and also in parallel a thief who has stolen a heritage diamond from the Amesburys. What could go wrong? Enjoy this cozy in Victorian London.

#Murder In Season#
By: Mary Winters
Reviewed By: I Love To Read
Murder In Season is a Victorian cozy mystery set in 1860 London. Lady Amelia Amesbury, a widow, writing a help column in the newspaper as Lady Agony, Amelia is surprised when her mother arrives in London with Amelia's incorrigible younger sister Madge, to spend the London season, and hopefully catch a suitable husband. Instead, Madge is accused of killing a young man she had an altercation with on the dance floor. Amelia sets out to prove her sister's innocence. The engaging story moves along predictably. The last few chapters proved disappointing. They were rushed-very rushed-and the book ended abruptly as if the author had to throw everything in quickly.

This is a delightful volume! I am very glad another publisher picked up this series so we can continue to enjoy it! It's great fun to meet more of the family and see how *things* progress in this third volume. I'm not finished with it yet, but I'm loving what I've read so far. If you haven't read this series yet, you're missing out. It has heart, class, intrigue, and wit! From family drama to deep friendships and warm attraction, this is a perfect historical cozy mystery!

This is the first book by this author that I have read. Because I hadn’t read any of the books in this series, I found it very hard to get into. There were so many characters to keep track of that I found myself getting lost. Sadly I didn’t get to finish this mystery. I like the idea behind this series and will look at going back and reading the beginning. I received this as an ARC from Netgalley and freely give my review.

En el tercer libro, Amelia, the Lady of Letters, recibe a su hermana menor en Londres, donde decide presentarse en sociedad y escapar de ciertos problemas familiares. Todo se complica con una serie de asesinatos que están relacionados de alguna forma con su impetuosa hermana. Amelia debe acudir al rescate mientras lidia con sus propios problemas sentimentales: su cada vez más estrecha relación con Simon, el mejor amigo de su difunto marido.
Si te gusta la época de la Regencia, los misterios amables y ciertos toques de romance, vas a disfrutar mucho de esta lectura.
Muchas gracias a Netgalley y a los editores por permitirme disfrutar de una copia anticipada.

I always get excited when a new installment in this series comes out because I truly love hanging out on the page with Lady Amelia Amesburg (aka secretly the advice columnist Lady Agony), her best friend Kitty, her late husband’s aunt Tabitha, and Amelia’s adopted daughter Winifred. In Murder in Season, we get the added treat of Amelia’s fiery sister Margaret (or ‘Madge’) who is foisted upon them in hopes of making a good match for the Season. Madge is just as spirited as Amelia, but without the learned control or maturity that a few more years down the road of life will earn her, and thus any scene she’s in has the potential to epitomize the words ‘oh dear’. As you may be getting ready to guess, when murder also enters the picture Madge is one of the prime suspects, making Amelia’s covert investigations all the more personal. This sleuthing is, as always, delightful to follow, given Amelia’s savvy instinct and the ability to (mostly) discreetly snoop around in locations that range from a dark market alley to a glittering ballroom and everywhere in between.

Enter the dashing Simon, whose feelings for Amelia are complicated but deep and whose kisses (once he gets around to them) left me all a’swoon after reading. He makes a wonderful co-investigator, a delicious love interest, and a steady friend, and here is where I confess that most of my excitement leading up to each new book is because of the chemistry he and Amelia share. Their banter, their teamwork, their dances, their longing gazes and spark-filled romantic tension… and their kisses (hallelujah!)… all of it is just so much fun. Without taking away from the mystery that we’re solving or the other characters’ delightful personalities (Tabitha’s cane is out in full force this book). Because I love the mysteries and the side characters too, and Mary Winters writes them all so well. But once you get me hooked on a simmering romance, that’s what keeps me coming back for more. (I am telling you nothing y’all don’t already know about me)

Bottom Line: Murder in Season by Mary Winters is delightfully charming from beginning to end! Amelia remains a layered and engaging protagonist, and the addition of her scapegrace sister in this book made her even more so. Jewel thefts and murder may complicate matters for Amelia and her inner circle but it’s to the reader’s benefit for the entertainment it provides & the clever twists that I didn’t see coming. Add a dash of swoony romance with the delicious Simon and I’m all in! The characters, the Victorian setting, the well-plotted mystery, and yes the romance all made me a very happy reader of Murder in Season!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

This is such a fun historical murder mystery! It has mystery (of course) and adventure, swoony romance and fun family dynamics. I particularly enjoyed the letters at the start of each chapter

Unfortunately though I wanted to love this book, I just couldn't get into the writing style. I liked the premise of the book, and had hoped that the further I went in the book the more I may have become engaged. But it never happened. I honestly cannot pinpoint why - just that I never connected with the characters or the story.

I will try this author again in the future. Sadly this just wasn't the story for me. I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to give a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

“Murder in Season” is the enjoyable third book in Mary Winters’ Lady of Letters cozy mystery series. I love mysteries and I love historical romances and this book is a nice combination of both. Main characters Lady Amelia Amesbury is a Countess by day and an advice columnist and mystery solver on the side – her advice columns head each chapter and are fun to read. Also fun is her (inherited) Aunt Tabitha and her (inherited) daughter Winifred as well as her growing relationship with Simon. In this book, Amelia finds herself in charge of her sister Margaret’s unexpected Season, as well as investigating several jewelry robberies and a murder that takes place during Margaret’s Season debut – with Margaret being the chief suspect. This is all very nicely done with just the right amount of suspects, a slight sense of danger, and plenty of twists and turns along the way. When reading a mystery, I always try to figure out who the killer is – this time I was totally surprised (and a bit sad) when all was reveaed. Nicely done by Winters!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

These books are such a fun romp. The mysteries are clever, but I admit I'm more invested in the relationship between Amelia and Simon. The rest of the cast with Aunt Tabitha and company rounds out the story nicely.

I loved the first book in the series, but was disappointed by the second book. However, I was hoping it was just a fluke and the third book would be more to my taste. Sadly, that wasn't the case. I enjoy the mystery aspect of this series, but not the romance. I loved Simon in the first book and how supportive he was, but he keeps disappointing me more and more in the follow-up books. At this point, I think Amelia deserves better than him. I'm not a fan of romances where it feels the heroine is chasing the hero and having to convince him to love her. Simon has turned into a reluctant suitor and that's not appealing. Plus, he can be a bit of a bore and too domineering at times. After reading Murder in Season, I don't feel Simon would support Amelia in her sleuthing or writing if they were ever to marry. Amelia needs to meet someone else, a true rival for her affection, and make Simon really grovel and regret pushing her away and sending all those mixed signals.

I adore this series and hope there will be more to come! This books has more romance (for everyone) and a very intriguing murder to solve. Getting to meet Amelia's family, more interactions with the cantankerous Lady Tabitha, and a possible move forward with Simon!! So much happened in this story including a party a the Amesbury house! . I hope we have more to come in the future-who does Madge end up with? Will Simon finally court Amelia? What mystery will Lady Agony solve next?

3.5 stars. This was a fun story! I will say though, I recommend reading the first two books first, because though I was assured it worked as a standalone, many references through the story made me feel like I had missed things (relationships, drama, romance) that would have added to character and plot development. Still, it was a fun mystery, and I really liked Amelia. The letters starting the chapters were fun, and tied to the story well. I liked Madge and the chaos/drama she brought, and the sisters' relationship helped develop their characters. I also liked the morally grey area the "bad guys" fell into, making them more realistic. If I can go back and read the first two, I'd happily continue with a fourth, if there is one!

This series continues to be as interesting as books 1 and 2. Amelia and Madge (her sister) are the focus of this book. There's a lot going on. Madge is having a London season, which is not going quite well. There are robberies happening and a murder that all adds to the puzzle. And Simon and Amelia declare they affections, yay!!!

Interesting, fast-paced, and well written. And every Lady Agony letter is on point and sometimes very funny.

#netgalley #MurderinSeason

I had somehow missed that this is the third book in the Lady of Letters mysteries series, which follows commoner-turned-Countess-turned-Victorian advice columnist Amelia Amesbury as she finds herself in the unlikely position of investigating mysteries and solving murders.

Such a premise is all catnip for this reader, and I was all set to lose myself in the book. Alas, it was not to be; the more I read, the harder it was to suspend my disbelief enough to keep on reading, and after weeks of trying to get back to it, I finally DNFed the ARC at the 27% mark.

While the story is told in third person, past tense, we only get Amelia’s point of view, and the narrative sticks to her so closely, it might as well have been first person. This can work quite well, and it’s quite effective for mysteries, which is what I thought this book was going to be. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me here, for a number of reasons.

Partly, because I found Amelia increasingly annoying, and as everyone else in the story is seen exclusively through her perceptions, I never got invested in any of them.

There’s her younger sister, who comes across as an incredibly spoiled brat whose entire personality is basically stomping her feet and tossing her hair, while being “not like other girls” enough not to care about her hair or dress.

There’s Lady Tabitha, her late husband’s aunt, who, we are told over and over, has been Amelia’s rock since his death, but whose actions and words paint her as an unbending snob who resents being now the poor relation in her family’s home, and having to defer to a commoner who has barely learned how to behave in society, simply because Amelia married her nephew.

There’s Simon, Lord Bainbridge, the late earl’s closest friend and Amelia’s love interest, who apparently returns her regard but has some tragic backstory that precludes him ever declaring for her–but not from showing up constantly in the guise of “old family friend”.

Meanwhile, Amelia spends more time and energy mooning over him, than she does caring about anything else, from her sister’s potential ruination and utter disregard of all social conventions, to the man poisoned at her very own ball.

In fact, one of the reasons I found Amelia annoying is that her sense of priorities is totally skewed; a man takes ill, and ultimately dies, at the first event she hosts after the death of her husband (and apparently, her first ever ball), and she is more preoccupied with trying to make Simon jealous than with the fact that a man her sister had a loud argument with is dead less than an hour later.

The text wants us to believe that while Amelia is young in years, she’s wise and sensible far beyond her age; not so much because loss can make people mature in a hurry, as because she’s always been like that. The problem is that neither her own thoughts nor her actions support that characterization; Amelia comes across as a much younger person than she’s supposed to be.

Then there were the many different authorial choices that required deliberate suspension of disbelief. It soon got so I could just not bring myself not to notice all the contrivances piling on.

I could accept that Amelia is so beautiful/charming/sweet/fill-in-the-blank, to catch the eye of a young and sickly earl who preferred her devotion (and gratitude), to the more obvious self-interest of London’s marriage mart. I could accept that his illness prevented consummation of the marriage–mostly because the virgin widow is a genre romance trope, even though is one that grates, especially in a book published in 2024.

It was however a lot more difficult to buy into the idea that a young countess would end her year of mourning by hosting a large ball, rather than by attending a number of smaller, less formal events over the course of a few weeks. It especially makes no sense as, from the backstory we are given, Amelia spent barely any time in society before her husband’s death; who would she even know to fill a whole ballroom with barely a few days’ notice? (and let us not even consider all the preparation needed for such an event, from food and drink to invitations and so forth).

The reason for the ball–to be Margaret’s debut in society–makes even less sense; for all the Amelia is now a countess, her sister is very much a commoner with no dowry, and Amelia’s own social network is limited to a couple of people beyond Lady Tabitha and Simon.

Margaret isn’t particularly pretty, nor especially witty or charming, and has no name, fortune or connections beyond her older sister. Amelia’s own social standing is fairly tenuous; she’s a wealthy and titled widow, but once she either marries or dies, the earldom and title pass on to someone else. There is no reason for Amelia to believe than any member of the ton would have two words to say to Margaret, let alone want to marry her.

But even if I could pretend that her sisterly love blinds Amelia to the facts, I can’t accept that Lady Tabitha would go along rather than insisting that Margaret at least be tutored on proper behavior for a few weeks, before lending the weight of her own reputation to the chit’s debut in society.

Furthermore, while I can accept that Margaret needed to stay in London for a while, maybe even permanently, the whole, “we need to introduce her to society and marry her off, stat” urgency that Amelia displays just didn’t make any sense in context.

Between the plot holes, Amelia’s implausible background, and a main character acting like a lovelorn teenager rather than a sensible adult, I finally gave up.

Murder in Season is a DNF.

Immerse yourself in the captivating world of a five-star historical cozy mystery set in the Victorian Era. Filled with charming characters, enthralling romance, and compelling intrigue, this book is the third installment in a delightful series that will leave you guessing until the final page. The well-crafted pace and engaging storyline make it a must-read. Don't miss out – orderi today! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I just adore this series. Its clever premise is that a widowed countess also writes an advice column. She also investigates murders. The whole cast of characters is wonderful, and I enjoyed the mystery immensely.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

This is the third book in the series but the first I have read. There are lots of details of the Victorian era and the etiquette of the time. to enhance the story and the complex characters are vivid and entertaining. The mystery kept me guessing all the way to the end, which made the story move along at a good pace. All in all an enjoyable and entertaining read. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I'm loving Mary Winters' Lady in Letters series and this a good one that kept me hooked and entertaining. Well plotted, solid mystery, lieable characters
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I've read every installment of the Lady Of Letters cozy murder mysteries and I think this one might be my favorite. It kept me guessing all the way to the end, which is what you want from a mystery. I adore the romance as well. Overall, a really cute and enjoyable read. low stakes, but it keeps you guessing. Bonus points for the romance. Thank you, Severn House and NetGalley for the advance reading copy!