Description (from cover):'Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister's estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes.
Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage--a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. While Gage is clearly more competent than she first assumed, Kiera isn't about to let her guard down as accusations and rumors swirl.
When Kiera and Gage's search leads them to even more gruesome discoveries, a series of disturbing notes urges Lady Darby to give up the inquiry. But Kiera is determined to both protect her family and prove her innocence, even as she risks becoming the next victim...'
My thoughts:
I dearly enjoyed this book as I found it to be overly engaging and quite exciting. From page one, I connected with Lady Darby and her unique character in the face of London society. It did take me a while to figure out why everyone considered her an outcast, but once I did, I felt sorry for her. I loved how she used her resourcefulness from her past to aid a murder investigation and help bring a killer to justice. I have to say that this book was one of the better historical mysteries that I have read in quite some time. I thought that the author did a fantastic job of creating a setting that the reader could really enjoy and the mystery was complex and engaging and keep me riveted to the pages until the very end.
I cannot wait to see where the author takes this character and because of that, I have begun the second book in this series. I found this book to be well-written and well-developed. I liked Lady Darby's character, even though she is considered a pariah in society. Normally, the historical mysteries that I read feature a prominent female character who is well-known in society. It was a breath of fresh air to read about a character on the different end of the spectrum. I have to say that the author created a beautiful story that I simply couldn't put down.
I typically don't like to read books where the main character is quite the social pariah. Normally, my tastes in historical mysteries are featuring well-known sociable characters and this book was little different for me. I really enjoyed it and cannot wait to read more about these characters in the upcoming installments of this series. As I stated before, I am currently reading the next book in this series as I couldn't just end the series with the first book. I cannot wait to discover what the author has in store for Kiera and her family in the future installments.
Overall Rating: 4.5
Title: The Anatomist's Wife
Author: Anna Lee Huber
Series: Lady Darby Mystery #1
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: November 6, 2012
Pages: 368
Genre: Historical Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
