Recent Reads - A Stroke of Malice

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A Stroke of Malice by Anna Lee Huber - Kiera and Sebastian Gage are visiting Sunlaws Castle for a Twelfth Night house party, somewhat reluctantly because of Kiera's dislike for fashionable and rambunctious social events. She does hope to finish painting the Duchess's portrait though, and Kiera's siblings are present. The party gets off to a rather wild start, despite the tensions between the Duchess of Bowmont's family members. One of the sons leads a group on a tour of the castle's crypts, and the party takes an unexpected turn when a decomposing body is found. Quite logically, Kiera and Gage are asked to take charge of the situation as it seems quite obvious that someone has met with foul play.

The task of identifying the body, assumed to be that of the Duchess's son-in-law, and discovering the murderer is slowed by the difficulty of travel and a cholera outbreak nearby, the secrets that some of the Duchess's family members want to protect, and even by Kiera's own advancing pregnancy. As the list of possible suspects narrows, a suspicious accident puts Kiera in danger, even as she and Gage get closer to the truth.

Although I enjoyed this Lady Darby mystery every bit as much as all the previous installments, the identity of the murderer was not very difficult to guess. It was the details of how and why, and all the other secrets that provided the twists and turns in this one. There were a couple of red herrings, and plenty of family dramas, and the expected set-up for the next novel in the series. And of course, I'm eagerly looking forward to reading it! 

By the same author: The Anatomist's Wife, Mortal Arts; A Grave Matter, A Study in Death, A Pressing Engagement, This Side of Murder, As Death Draws Near, A Brush With Shadows. Treacherous Is The Night, An Artless Demise, Secrets in the Mist, Penny for Your Secrets

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