Dianne Freeman’s fifth Countess of Harleigh mystery, A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder, is scheduled for release on June 28. (I no longer say will be released because I can’t be sure nowadays.) Here’s a sneak peek at the cover.

Since I have a Monday deadline, I thought it might be a good time to share Sandie Herron’s review of Freeman’s A Fiancée’s Guide to First Wives and Murder, the fourth in the series. Sandie reviewed the audiobook for us.

A Fiancee’s Guide to First Wives and Murder
Written by Dianne Freeman
Narrated by Sarah Zimmerman
Series: Countess of Harleigh Mystery Series, Book 4
Unabridged Audiobook
HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books (7/27/2021)
Listening Length: 8 hours, 41 minutes
ASIN:  B09B7WMMLH

I began the fourth installment in the Lady Harleigh series with a smile on my lips.  Lady Frances Wynn, Countess of Harleigh, is having a mixed sort of day when she sends her mother and daughter to Paris for a shopping spree to buy gowns for her own engagement party.  No sooner does she send them off than the former mistress to her deceased husband shows up with a favor on her lips.  Sending her away only brings Detective Delaney with a French woman wanting to see George Hazelton, Frances’s neighbor and fiancée.  The woman had been attempting to catch the attention of the visiting Russian Grand Duke  claiming to be his cousin when apprehended by the police.  She also claimed to be George’s wife!

Irena Teskey claims to be the illegitimate daughter of the czar’s uncle, Alexei Alexandrovich which George confirms.  With her famous father, Irena had been abducted several times and held for ransom, one of which is when George met her, as a teenager, but he did not marry her.  She claims that a man has been sending her threatening letters to the theater she owns in London but is unable to describe his physical appearance.  Just what parts of these stories are true, and what are fantasy?

Since Irena has been threatened and has no other friends, it is suggested that she stay with Lady Harleigh for the time being while her stories can be verified.  While she stays home, Frances and George go to the opera where the Prince of Wales instructs George to investigate the situation with Irena.  However, during the theater interval it is clear that gossip has begun as people whisper about George being married, so why is Frances with him in public?  Surely her reputation will be ruined.

Matters only get worse when Frances returns to her home after her investigating the next day to find Irena had been strangled in her back garden.  It is even more urgent that they find those threatening letters Irena spoke of and the man supposedly following her.  The newspapers have begun to carry Irena’s appearance, and even Frances’s mother has read of it in France!

It is with grace under pressure that Frances extricates herself from public scrutiny during a delicious scene.  While suspects disappear from their lists, others are added.  Subplots appear that make perfect sense and are integral to the conclusion of this well-crafted tale.  There was a delightful melding of motives and plots and characters.  Narrator Sarah Zimmerman kept things properly British throughout with only one reputation tarnished in the end. 

Frances and George are clever, resourceful, and connected in their own ways.  As a team, they are a formidable investigative force to be reckoned with.  Each is determined to find the truth and will push the boundaries to get to it.  I am looking forward to seeing them married and able to truly be a pair working together.  The world is about to see a new century unfold.  I can only imagine how the Hazeltons will face it.