Title: A Stroke of Malice
By: Anna Lee Huber
Genre: Historical Mystery
Pages: 372
Release Date: April 7th, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Rating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:
Lady Kiera Darby and her husband Sebastian Gage are looking forward to relaxing with new friends at an exciting yearly soiree, but they soon learn that murder never takes a holiday in the latest riveting installment in this national bestselling series.
Scotland 1832. After enjoying a delightful holiday with her family, Lady Kiera Darby is looking forward to finishing her new friend, the Duchess of Bowmont's portrait, as well as attending the duchess' annual Twelfth Night party. Though she normally avoids such fashionable events, Kiera trusts the attention will not be focused on her, but rather her notorious hostess and her family. But upon their arrival at the opulent Scottish estate, Kiera and her husband and fellow investigative partner, Sebastian Gage, swiftly deduce that all is not merry in the duke's household. The family appears to be under a great strain, and someone seems determined to cause mayhem among the guests with a series of forged notes.
However, matters swiftly turn from irksome to downright deadly when the merrymakers stumble upon a decomposing body in the castle's crypt. This corpse is certainly no laughing matter, especially when it is identified as the duchess' son-in-law, the Earl of Helmsdale, who had purportedly traveled to Paris more than a month earlier. It is evident the man met with foul play, and Kiera and Gage step in to investigate, at the duchess' insistence. Kiera and Gage must swiftly reexamine the facts, for a ruthless murderer walks among them and may well be a member of the duchess' own family. Kiera soon discovers just how deep the killer is willing to dig to keep their secrets from ever seeing the light of day.
Review:
This was the first book that I picked up from this series. I didn't realize that I was starting on the 8th book, but It didn't really matter much since the characters had enough back story and life to them that I fell in love with them anyway.
Old Scottish mystery is a new genre for me and I love it. I really wish I knew this was a thing sooner. The murder mystery was on point and easy to follow, but still keeping its mystery throughout the whole story. I also loved how a ghost story was thrown in there as well. It really made the mystery that much more intriguing.
I will need to go back and read the previous books.
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