Book Description Review Outstanding Praise for Catherine Lloyd and her Kurland St. Mary Mysteries! Death Comes to Bath “An amusing combination of Regency mores, romantic aspirations, and a clever mystery makes this one of Lloyd’s best.”—Kirkus Reviews “Well-crafted . . . The couple’s complementary investigative skills shine in a plot that balances colorful characters and lively action.”—Publishers Weekly “Watching this duo is action in a joy.”—BookPage “Another deftly crafted gem of a mystery . . . An inherently riveting read that is unreservedly recommended for dedicated mystery buffs.”—Midwest Book Review Death Comes to the School “Enjoyable . . . The liveliness of Lloyd’s many secondary characters and the marital tensions arising from Lucy’s fertility woes add richness to the well-plotted puzzle.”—Publishers Weekly Death Comes to Kurland Hall “The third in this charming Regency series has a darker side.”—Library Journal “Lloyd is an expert on all things early 19th-century England and it shows. This engaging book ends with a twist readers won’t see coming.”—Mystery Scene Death Comes to London “A pleasant combination of Regency romance and mystery that evokes fond memories of Georgette Heyer.”—Kirkus Reviews “Excellent historical detail, delightfully flawed lead characters, and the doings of the season make for entertaining reading. M. C. Beaton fans will enjoy this series.”—Booklist Death Comes to the Village “A Regency Rear Window whose chair-bound hero and the woman who civilizes him generate sparks worthy of Darcy and Elizabeth.”—Kirkus Reviews “A delightful debut…Readers will hope death returns soon to Kurland St. Mary.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) Read more About the Author Catherine Lloyd was born just outside London, England, into a large family of dreamers, artists, and history lovers. She completed her education with a master’s degree in history at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and uses the skills she gained there to research and write her historical mysteries. Catherine currently lives in Hawaii with her husband and four children. Her website is located at www.catherine-lloyd.com. Read more Customers Review: This is the seventh book in the Kurland St. Mary’s series of cozy historical mysteries. All of the books have been entertaining and diverting. While there are changes in the lives and surroundings of the characters over the series, the story would stand alone. You would miss some of the richness that a backstory provides, but you would not find the plot confusing. By now, Lucy and Sir Robert have been married for several years and they have begun a family. Some series cannot survive the transition from a romance to a marriage, but this series has not lost a step. Trouble begins when a new beautiful nursemaid arrives from London. Lucy and Sir Robert were bound to investigate when she is found murdered on the estate. One of the charms of this series is the historical setting in the English countryside and occasionally in London. Travel is on foot or by horse or carriage. All communication is either in person or by correspondence. These two things are factors in the progress of their investigations. There are secrets uncovered and a few twists and turns before the story reaches it resolution. This is not a literary read, and it would not be a selection for my book group, but it is reasonably entertaining. It is not likely that my husband would read this book even though he enjoys mysteries. It is also not on a par with the mysteries that we pre-order, such as those by Louise Penny, Martin Walker, Ann Cleeves, Jean-Luc Bannalec, Paul Doiron, Cay Rademacher, Ellie Griffiths, and a few others. My only complaint is that the price is too high for this sort of book. I bought it anyway, just because it was what I felt like reading and it did not disappoint. This series does not push the boundaries of a cozy, so there are murders, but no gruesome details, the language is mild, and the romance is off-stage.
It was so nice to visit Kurland St. Mary once again, the Major and Lady Kurland being two of my favorite detectives although they would never think of themselves as such. It seemed that Robert was more curmudgeonly than I remember, and Lucy more subdued. The mystery was a difficult one and very close to home. It was nice to get to know their son Ned, and touch base with others in the family. The mystery was the thing and it was very good, and kept me guessing till nearly the end. I do recommend this book, however this is not a standalone. Having read the previous books continues to add to the storyline.
I love this series! This book was a great addition to the series. The writing is wonderful and always fun to keep up with characters and their development. This author is on my favorites list
It has been a little over a year since the last book in this series, Death Comes To Bath, and I was beginning to suffer from anxiety pangs waiting for this one. This is an absolutely delightful series and this book was a terrific addition. It has been wonderful watching Robert and Lucy’s relationship grow and mature. Robert has mellowed – at least a tad – from the taciturn curmudgeon we first met and Lucy has settled a bit as well. At the end of the last book, Lucy was expecting their first child after suffering two miscarriages. In this book, we meet the captivating Ned who is now almost three years old. NOTE: The book blurb says eighteen-month-old, but the ARC I read said he was nearly three.Robert never thought he wanted children – those noisome small creatures who would be constantly underfoot. Then Lucy came into his life – and then there was the wondrous addition of Ned to the family. Robert is now totally besotted with both his wife and his son. How could life get any better? He quickly finds out when Lucy tells him that she is now expecting their second child in a few months. Their calm, peaceful routine quickly gets turned on its head when Lucy hires another maid for the nursery. Lucy is tiring quicker and can’t do as much and with a new baby in the nursery, they’ll need more staff. Luckily, their current nursery maid, Agnes, has a cousin who is looking for a position. Lucy is delighted when Agnes recommends Polly because she is very well pleased with Agnes.The chaos sets in almost immediately. Polly excels in the nursery and Ned quickly comes to love her – as do all of the single males within the household and the village. While Polly does nothing to encourage the men – actually she does quite the opposite – they still come to fisticuffs on a regular basis. Robert is at the point of firing all of them – and then Polly comes up missing. When her lifeless body is found, Robert and Lucy quickly set out to find the murderer.This book has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. Is Polly more than she seems? Is she even who she says she is? Polly is Agnes’ cousin but … Agnes is plain and Polly is breathtakingly beautiful. Who is the hostler who began working at the Inn at the same time Polly arrived in Kurland St. Mary?Lucy and Robert end up making a trip to London in order to discover more about Polly and how she came to be in their household – and who she really is. As they learn her real identity, they have to find out what happened to the real Polly – and what caused the girl they know as Polly to run away from London. Of whom or what was she afraid?I highly recommend this book. It is very well-written, fast-paced, well-plotted, and filled with characters you’ll love. Well, except for the villains of course – and I was very happy that they got their punishment! You will probably figure out who the murderer is before the end of the story, but, even if you do, it doesn’t detract from the story at all.I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a very good Victorian series. Lucy, the rector’s daughter is now married to Sir Robert Kurland, and is pregnant with her second child. Their son, Ned, has a nurse named Agnes, and they are looking for another nurse for the new baby. Agnes recommends that they hire her cousin, Polly, which they do.The new nurse is very attractive, and they find some of the male servants and young men in the ;ub are fighting over her. She is soon found dead in a drainage ditch, and Lucy and Robert have another murder to solve. The soon find that she was not Agnes’ cousin, but a friend of Polly, who was frightened for her life, and wanted to leave the city. Lucy and Robert go to Lucy’s uncle in London to try to find out the background of their dead nurse. They do find that she was an actress named Flora Rosa, and that she had been set up as a mistress for a wealthy aristocrat whose son had been in love with her. The aristocrat refused to talk about Flora with Robert, but Robert got some information from the two sons, and they went home without as much information as they wanted.When the aristocrat and his two sons arrive to visit the vicar, things begin to happen, and danger comes to Kurland Hall. The ending is quite exciting! |
12 reviews