I am so grateful I can count on Sandie Herron to come through with a review or two when I’m backed up. I’ll have a review of my own on Saturday. In the meantime, today, you can enjoy Sandie’s review of the audiobook, A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman. Thank you, Sandie.
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder
Written by Dianne Freeman
Narrated by Sarah Zimmerman
Series: Countess of Harleigh Mystery Series, Book 3
Unabridged Audiobook
HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books (4/27/2021)
Listening Length: 8 hours, 32 minutes
ASIN: B0935CBVZR
Frances Wynn, Countess of Harleigh, resides in London in 1899 with her sister Lily, her Aunt Hettie, and her young daughter Rose along with various servants. Their life is made easier by their neighbor George Hazelton with whom Frances is falling in love. Lily is preparing for her marriage to Leo and presents Frances with an acute problem; while her wedding ceremony looms two months hence, she is currently pregnant.
Elopement seems to be the answer, but both the bride and groom’s mothers would not do well with that choice. George Hazelton comes to the rescue with an invitation to his family’s country estate where he is hosting a hunting party. Why not add a wedding to the party? Hastily made plans are made with just close family and friends to attend.
Unfortunately, accidents begin to befall guests as soon as Lady Harleigh and her family arrive along with Leo and his sisters and best man. A steward is knocked off his horse by a fishing line strung in the trees. A footman takes ill, poisoned on arsenic. Another man is shot in his posterior during an archery tournament. One of Leo’s sisters tripped down the stairs and broke her arm. Are these accidents or attempts at murder? And just who is the intended victim?
Lady Harleigh stands in for George who is called away when the servants panic over possible poisoning. She become involved with the police in questioning them, much to the police’s dismay. On the other hand, George is delighted to have his partner in investigating these mishaps and tries to arrange clandestine meetings with Frances despite a house full of people. Frances has her own mystery to solve when she learns that George and her mother met before her disastrous wedding to Reggie but George will not reveal what transpired.
Numerous mysteries, numerous mishaps, and numerous suspects, just how will George and Frances discover who had murder on their mind and will they succeed? It’s a fun romp through the countryside as we trail along with our intrepid detectives chasing down the culprit both in and outside the house and above and below stairs. Will Lily and Leo get married in time to cover their own indiscretion? Dianne Freeman brings us another delightful chapter in this family saga in Victorian England that is anything but straight laced. Narrator Sarah Zimmerman presents it all with great decorum. I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment in this charming series.
