by Alice Chetwynd Ley

This started out very well because of the quality of Ley’s writing. It really shines. She was a respected author in the Regency Romance field for years and for good reason. For one thing, she has a vocabulary and uses it. However, I just did not like the plot. It was a cozy mystery and I found it slow and boring. It would have been enlivened by a nice romance, but the 2 main and most interesting characters were uncle and niece. The book advertises itself as a romance and the teaser on the cover promises “And his pert, devilishly witty niece Anthea will volunteer her own special talents to find the true villain – as well as her heart’s most fervent desire, true love.” Not a bit of it. So in addition to it being a pedestrian effort as far as an intriguing mystery, the deception as far as what this novel was about made me mad.

February 24, 2020