'Scotland, 1831. After a tumultuous courtship complicated by three deadly inquiries, Lady Kiera Darby is thrilled to have found both an investigative partner and a fiance in Sebastian Gage. But with her well-meaning--and very pregnant--sister planning on making their wedding the event of the season, Kiera could use a respite from the impending madness.
Commissioned to paint the portrait of Lady Drummond, Kiera is saddened when she recognizes the pain in the baroness's eyes. Lord Drummond is a brute, and his brusque treatment of his wife forces Kiera to think of the torment caused by her own late husband.
Kiera isn't sure how to help, but when she finds Lady Drummond prostrate on the floor, things take a fatal turn. The physician called to the house and Lord Drummond appear satisfied to rule her death natural, but Kiera is convinced that poison is the real culprit.
Now, armed only with her knowledge of the macabre and her convictions, Kiera intends to discover the truth behind the baroness's death--no matter what, or who, stands in her way...'
My thoughts:
Time and time again, I read this series and fall in love with the characters and the plot. Huber has delivered a wonderful and delightful mystery in this newest installment of her Lady Darby Mystery series. Lady Kiera Darby is considered to be an outcast in Scotland's social circles due to her past of helping her late husband dissect bodies and the scandal that rocked Kiera's world. Now that she is engaged to society's most eligible bachelor, Sebastian Gage, more people are finding reason to dislike her. It doesn't help that every time she turns around, she is investigating a murder. Kiera by no means fits the mold of a society belle and it makes people distrustful of her even more. Of course, Kiera's sharp wit and knack for solving murders doesn't nothing but alienate her from the rest of her peers.
Kiera is painting a portrait of Lady Drummond and she is disturbed when Lord Drummond accosts his wife during a sitting. Kiera stands up for Lady Drummond and the next morning when she returns to the house to continue her work, she finds Lady Drummond dead. Was she the cause of Lady Drummond's murder? She certainly feels like everything is her fault and that she could have prevented the death somehow. Of course, it doesn't help when the physician and Lord Drummon insist that Lady Drummond died of natural causes. Kiera is not satisfied with this answer and enlists Gage to help her discover exactly what happened.
I enjoyed this book a lot as I have with the others in this series. I love the setting and backdrop of a historical Scottish mystery. I don't really read a lot of books based in Scotland so in this series I find something a little different from the norm. The characters are well-developed and engaging and the plot always has me guessing until all is revealed. This book was no exception. I simply cannot wait to see what happens next. I am anxiously awaiting the next installment in this series. I think that this a wonderful historical mystery series that appeals to readers of all different sorts.
Overall Rating: 4.5
Title: A Study in Death
Author: Anna Lee Huber
Series: Lady Darby Mystery #4
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: July 7, 2015
Pages: 336
Genre: Historical Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was purchased by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.