Ah, so fun! This historical murder mystery rom-com includes characters from the previous series, along with all of the fun expected from author Manda Collins. And the somewhat slow burn between the MCs is delicious. (I do hope there’s another round of edits before this goes to print because I noticed a significant number of mistakes).

Lucy, a rich heiress, is a member of the Ems - the Mischief and Mayhem Book Club - along with her friends Vera and Meg. Mystery is in her blood - she’s also DI Eversham’s cousin and has been desperately trying to have him solve the recent murder of a prostitute. When her best friend Vera is abducted, she starts investigating with the help of Meg’s brother, Will, whose only chance of restoring the family financial security is to marry a fortune.

I didn’t enjoy this much - I was bored throughout, I need my books to be more fast-paced. The mystery (well, both mysteries) could have been interesting but I think Manda Collins’s books are marketed as romcoms (through no fault of her own) when I fail to find any humour in them at all. Lucy is a feminist-friendly heroine which was nice especially since Will learns a few things from her, but I personally wasn’t really drawn to this couple, they really lacked any chemistry for me.

I won’t be reading any more by this author, I DNFed another book of hers and I had trouble finishing this one.

My endless thanks to NetGalley and Forever for this ARC!

Hello! It's me, the marketer/publicist for this book. Just leaving a review to keep up my NetGalley ratio.