The Mortal Blow

I love this series, all the books were great. This one is likable even if it's not the best in the series.
The cast of characters is well written and interesting as usual, the historical background well researched.
The mystery was solid and the plot was quite engaging even if a bit slow at times.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Sapere Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

"The Mortal Blow" is a mystery set in 1791 in London. This novel is the 5th in the series, but you don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one. This story didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous books.

Lady Fan finds a girl covered in blood and clearly in shock. With her firm but caring manner, she quickly discovers that the girl was defending herself from a man who was trying to rape her. The man is dead, and a jury is sure to convict her for killing her attacker. Lady Fan believes an earlier blow was the true cause of death, and she's determined to save the girl by finding out who dealt that blow.

This was a clue-based mystery, though it was more about trying to build a strong enough case to save the girl than difficulty discovering what happened. Lady Fan asked plenty of questions and used her observational skills, but she also got help from her husband and from a niece with some ideas of her own.

The characters were interesting, and I cared about what happened to them. Historical details were woven into the story to create the feeling of a specific time and place. There was a minor amount of of bad language. There were no sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel.

1791, Lord Francis and Lady Ottilia Fanshawe are travelling to town when a female is seen standing in the middle of the road, seemingly covered in blood. On inspection a body is discovered in the nearby area. Lady Fan is determined to help, and takes the female with them. Where she starts her investigation with the help of Lord Francis and her niece Lady Elizabeth.
Another enjoyable well-written mystery in this series, where we discover more about the characters in the family.

While on her way to London, Lady Fan comes across a woman standing in the middle of the road, silent, in shock, and covered in blood, most of it obviously from someone else, though her hands are covered in shallow cuts. An investigation reveals a dead body lying in the woods nearby, from which the blood has obviously come. The man's chest and stomach are similarly cut about, but is that what killed him? Lady Fan interprets the signs differently, and refuses to believe that the woman is responsible for the man's death. But will she be able to find the evidence to convince a (male) jury? As the situation begins to unfold and it becomes clear who is truly responsible, Lady Fan realises that this time she's up against something that she may not be able to fix...

I have to start by saying that the improbability of one woman who is in no way connected with law enforcement coming across all of these situations that she faces in this series is something that must be put aside before the stories can be enjoyed. However, having decided to ignore that, the books themselves are well written, with interesting characters and good storylines. Meg's father made me mad, but I enjoyed the continuation of the relationship between Francis and Otillia, and the entrance of Lizzie was good. I seem to have missed reading book 4, and the references to it intrigued me enough to make me want to go back and read it, but the book can stand alone, though there are occasional references to previous 'adventures' throughout.

Recommended for readers of Heyer's mysteries, though with a historical setting, but with the added benefits of Francis and Tillie (and others) as ongoing characters and relationships, and less objectionable language.

Note that I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and this is my considered opinion of the book.