Rating: 
Summary: Charming mystery, characters, and interesting history
Review: Returned from the wars in Africa, Captain Harry Cathcart has retired to his (low-cost) club and is well behind on paying his friend and acting-gentleman's gentleman when he gets a strange request. The Earl of Hadshire is concerned that a young man has been paying court on his daughter, Lady Rose, yet no proposal has been forthcoming. Can Cathcart investigate and determine if the young man is all he seems? With this job, Cathcart launches into a career of helping hapless British aristocrats recover from social embarassment, blackmail, and other consequences of their foolish acts. For Lady Rose, however, the consequences are tragic--thanks to her impetuous announcement, everyone knows that the young man was tampering with her affections--and Lady Rose, not the young man, suffers a destroyed reputation. A beautiful woman with a shady reputation becomes a target for any playboy and Edwardian England (the novel is set in 1907) has plenty of playboys. Cathcart is called in to head off embarrasment again--but even Cathcart draws the line at covering up murder. And when Lady Rose is invited to a house party in the country, deaths and disappearances start to happen too quickly to be called anything else--except by the local aristocrats who are willing to use all their powers to cover up anything that might stink of such commonness as murder. Author Marion Chesney creates a charming tale that combines romantic tension (Lady Rose and Cathcart are attracted but in denial), mystery, and a look at a historical era where the British aristocracy cling to the vestiges of their Regency glories even as the rest of the world heads toward modernism and world war. Cathcart makes a fine romantic hero as well as an intriguing sleuth with Lady Rose available to provide impetuous advice and push him to extremes. Lady Rose, with her ambitions to become middle-class, support for woman's sufferage, and contempt for corsets, lives in an era where such beliefs are just possible--and is punished just as society would punish such an outrage--by being put on the shelf. Cathcart's servant and Rose's maid provide a secondary romantic interest as well as humor. I also appreciated the bolshevick police sergeant. Chesney's writing draws the reader in, lets us share the romance but also the disgrace of Edwardian aristocracy, and propells a fine mystery through to its conclusions. I would be surprised if we don't see more of Lady Rose and Captain Cathcart--and look forward to the next installment.
Rating: 
Summary: Hopefully, the beginning of a great new series!
Review: This is a terrific Edwardian mystery/romance from Marion Chesney, who, as M.C. Beaton, writes my current favorite mystery series featuring Agatha Raisin. If you like the Agatha Raisin books, Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mysteries, and Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence Beresford adventures, you'll love this book. Chesney creates 4 really memorable characters in this delightful story, told with her unique humor. Aristocratic Captain Harry Cathcart, a saturnine, anti-social Boer War veteran who must earn his living, turns to discreetly clearing up messes for the aristocracy and becomes quite successful. Lady Rose Summer, beautiful daughter of an earl, is over-educated and far too independent for her class and time. She meets Captain Cathcart when her father hires him to investigate a young man she has become infatuated with. Lady Rose's father later hires Cathcart to handle another delicate situation regarding King Edward VII. The two meet again and join forces to investigate the mysterious death of a fellow guest of Lady Rose's at a marquess's house party. The young woman has died of arsenic poisoning, and Cathcart and Lady Rose set about uncovering some sordid secrets among the aristocracy to find out why the girl was killed. Cathcart's manservant Becket, a young man Cathcart found starving and nearly dead from hard labor, has worked hard to educate himself, and eagerly assists in the investigation. Lady Rose's maid Daisy, a former music hall performer, is educated by Lady Rose throughout the story, and also joins the investigation. Becket and Daisy are clearly fond of each other, and clearly intend to bring the feisty Lady Rose and the proud Cathcart together. I hope Chesney intends to write more stories with these characters. This first novel would earn five stars, except for the fact Chesney over-populates the book with far too many characters for this rather short story. Still, as with the Agatha Raisin series, I beg for more, more, and more!!
Rating:
Summary: Hopefully, the beginning of a great new series!
Review: This is a terrific Edwardian mystery/romance from Marion Chesney, who, as M.C. Beaton, writes my current favorite mystery series featuring Agatha Raisin. If you like the Agatha Raisin books, Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mysteries, and Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence Beresford adventures, you'll love this book. Chesney creates 4 really memorable characters in this delightful story, told with her unique humor. Aristocratic Captain Harry Cathcart, a saturnine, anti-social Boer War veteran who must earn his living, turns to discreetly clearing up messes for the aristocracy and becomes quite successful. Lady Rose Summer, beautiful daughter of an earl, is over-educated and far too independent for her class and time. She meets Captain Cathcart when her father hires him to investigate a young man she has become infatuated with. Lady Rose's father later hires Cathcart to handle another delicate situation regarding King Edward VII. The two meet again and join forces to investigate the mysterious death of a fellow guest of Lady Rose's at a marquess's house party. The young woman has died of arsenic poisoning, and Cathcart and Lady Rose set about uncovering some sordid secrets among the aristocracy to find out why the girl was killed. Cathcart's manservant Becket, a young man Cathcart found starving and nearly dead from hard labor, has worked hard to educate himself, and eagerly assists in the investigation. Lady Rose's maid Daisy, a former music hall performer, is educated by Lady Rose throughout the story, and also joins the investigation. Becket and Daisy are clearly fond of each other, and clearly intend to bring the feisty Lady Rose and the proud Cathcart together. I hope Chesney intends to write more stories with these characters. This first novel would earn five stars, except for the fact Chesney over-populates the book with far too many characters for this rather short story. Still, as with the Agatha Raisin series, I beg for more, more, and more!!
Rating:
Summary: Better than Agatha Christie...
Review: When I found out that Marion Chesney was one of my favorite mystery writers, M. C. Beaton, I wondered how her mixture of charm and cynicism would translate into an earlier period of history. It turns out to be a perfect match: Edwardian England was a place where the men had new freedom but the women were still expected to live prim and proper (and boring) lives. This is a classic country house mystery with a wonderful twist.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Agatha Christie...
Review: When I found out that Marion Chesney was one of my favorite mystery writers, M. C. Beaton, I wondered how her mixture of charm and cynicism would translate into an earlier period of history. It turns out to be a perfect match: Edwardian England was a place where the men had new freedom but the women were still expected to live prim and proper (and boring) lives. This is a classic country house mystery with a wonderful twist.
Rating:
Summary: Snobbery with Violence
Review: Wonderful. I have read many Edwardian Murder Mystery and this one was great. I can't wait for the next book in the series!!
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