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A Lady Compromised by Darcie Wilde drops the reader solidly into Regency England and the business (and busybody-ness) of a small, countryside town. In this fourth book of the Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, Rosalind is visiting her friend Louisa at Cassel House, ostensibly to help Louisa with wedding plans. But she is also there to see the new Duke of Casselmaine, Devon, and ascertain if the sparks that once flew between them are still alive.
Seven years earlier, Rosalind and Devon were on the verge of announcing their engagement when scandal erupted in Rosalind’s family. Since then, Devon has become a duke and Rosalind has learned to fend for herself. She has survived by being a “useful woman” to other women. She helps plan parties, completes uneven numbers at dinner tables, and helps solve mysteries that society women find themselves embroiled in. And true to form, before she even reaches Cassel House, she receives a letter from a friend of Louisa’s, Helen Corbyn, asking Rosalind to help her solve the mystery of her brother’s death.
Helen’s brother William was found dead while awaiting a duel with Helen’s fiancé due to have taken place the year before. Helen and her fiancé found William’s body and claimed that he was shot through the back. Devon also claims to have seen the body, but says it was shot through the front and an apparent suicide. Helen knows that something is afoot. The rest of the neighborhood just wishes to move on and put the scandal behind them, but Helen’s insistence that all is not as it seems pulls Rosalind into solving a mystery when her plan had been to just reunite with Devon and see what might still be possible between the two of them.
In A Lady Compromised, Ms. Wilde writes a perplexing mystery with numerous twists and a cartload of supporting characters. She is a skilled author and her writing is true to the time – you feel like you have been dropped into small village life, with its manners and gossip and ‘neighborly’ concerns. The mystery is well-developed with some well-placed red herrings along the way. The conclusion was a surprise but a thoroughly believable one.
I have two quibbles with the book though. First – it definitely should not be read as a stand-alone. There are characters and events mentioned here without any context given, and statements that could only make sense with more background information. I recognize that this is always a risk when starting a series in the middle, but I wish a little more context had been given in these instances. My second quibble was with the romance portion of the story. Even though Rosalind is visiting Devon, there is another love interest that is not (re)-introduced in this book until well past halfway into the story. Reading about this second interest made me wonder why Rosalind was visiting Devon at all. Also, I love a little more romance in my reading – this is definitely a mystery and not a romance.
A Lady Compromised is a well-written historical mystery that will delight fans of this series and this genre. If – like me – you are new to this series, I think starting at book one (A Useful Woman) might be best. I’m going to add the first three books to my winter reading list. I’m curious about the characters and events I didn’t quite follow in this book.
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Grade: B
Book Type: Historical Mystery
Sensuality: Kisses
Review Date: 27/11/20
Publication Date: 11/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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This is a lovely review and just the kind of quiet HR I’m in the mood for right now. I’ve gone back to Caz’s review of the first book and going to start there. Thanks.
I heard of this series somewhere else and was trying to remember why I hadn’t added them to my TBR. Just now I remembered as I followed the link to Amazon. They are very expensive. ($12.99 for this book) Sigh. I have enough to read anyway! Thanks for the great review.
The price point for historical mysteries is ridiculous. I reviewed one recently that was £15 in the UK (for the Kindle edition!). I read the first book in this series (my review is linked in this one) and while I gave it a similar grade, I was also hoping for more romantic development in future books. This is book four and it sounds like there hasn’t been much movement on that front, so I don’t think this series is going to be a priority for me right now.
Definitely not much movement on the romantic front. There’s a mild attraction in the story – hopefully the author will build on it more in the future. A good tension between hero and heroine adds such a nice secondary dimension to a mystery!
I’m a fan of good mysteries, even if the romantic arc takes a while, and this one sounds good. It’s the price that puts me off here. I’ll check my library. My TBR list is so long that I can’t justify spending $13 on a kindle book. I can get so many books through my library, free with KU, or under $5.
I see where you’re coming from – but if we’ve reached book four and are still only at a ‘mild attraction’ (which is pretty much the same as book one) then I’d probably be starting to lose patience!