Jenny Timmons has been surviving by being a con artist for as long as she can remember, "inheriting" her mother's once-thriving seance "business" upon her death. Unfortunately, she also inherited Miss Crane her landlady, who gave her an ultimatum; Jenny either steals from her wealthy clients or can become one of her girls. But Jenny had a plan, one last heist and she could leave Miss Crane's behind, unfortunately, Miss Crane set her up and as she's leaving her final victim's home she's arrested. Facing the gallows for a murder she didn't commit she knows she has no options left so is more than a little surprised when an elderly gentleman, Mr. Lockhart, pays her bail and hires her to perform a fake seance to calm the nerves of his distraught employer Mr. Pemberton who recently lost his bride to an apparent suicide. When Jenny arrives at Somerset a sprawling estate on the coast she quickly realizes she may have bitten off more than she can chew as the handsome Mr. Pemberton wants to "hire" her services himself to find out who murdered his bride. The longer Jenny is at Somerset the more she is certain that Lady Audra was murdered and that everyone at Somerset had a reason to want her dead.
I read a lot of murder mysteries, especially period mysteries. Over time I've really stopped reading them outside of a handful of authors because it began to feel like every single solitary book was the same plot with different characters. And to be honest for the vast majority of this book I was going to write it off as just another mass-produced period mystery with a romance. Up until the last maybe ten chapters this review was going to be very short and sweet and essentially say "highly entertaining if you need something to do for a few hours but I wouldn't actually pay for it." And then those last ten chapters hit and Myers pulled the rug straight out from under me!
As I said for the most part this really is a cookie-cutter period mystery. Girl has a crappy life, but she's tough and resilient and even though she finds herself way out of her normal realm she is completely capable of handling this situation because if we've learned anything adversity breeds clever capable women, and if clever and capable isn't enough she also has the hot, rich guy who is falling in love with her. Like I said most of this book is standard fare for this genre. It's not until you get to the reveal of the killer that this goes from absolutely predictable to "Holy hell what!?" Myers created the perfect game of Clue and just when you are positive you've narrowed down your six players to just one and you are sure it was Col. Mustard in the dining room with the candle stick you find out that there was a seventh player there the whole time that you never even saw. And the thing is Myers somehow juggles all of these players brilliantly. Everyone in Somerset has a reason for wanting Lady Audra dead, so you've got multiple lines of inquiry and these little side dramas that really all play into the actual killer's motive without feeling confusing or overwhelming. Which is in my opinion the mark of a good mystery writer.
The romance in this doesn't overwhelm the main story either which I was truly grateful for. It's also a believable and gradual building of mutual trust and respect over the course of the book.
Jenny is a great character as well. She has her hang-ups and insecurities but given her life story and her young age they are overlooked, understood or forgiven. Gareth (Mr. Pemberton) is a great love interest as well as an interesting character. His background is explained just enough so we can understand him but his story never overpowers Jenny's.
One kind of odd compliment but I think it needs to be said; you absolutely feel the passage of time when reading this. A huge pet peeve for me is when a book is supposed to take place over the course of a week but it feels like it was only a day or vice versa. It's a weird thing to nit-pick I know but I appreciated how she found ways to incorporate the passage of time.
The only reason this is four stars instead of five is I've read three or maybe four books in the last six months or so that had a similar premise. This is the best one out of those books for certain but there are only so many times you can read about a young girl in London during the spiritualist movement who somehow gets tangled up in a murder and ends up marrying a Baron, Earl, Rich Guy. Actually, it would be quite nice to read a book where the girl doesn't marry the Baron, Earl, Rich Guy. Especially since this book centers around women having virtually no rights during this time frame whether they were rich or poor.
Overall, while appearing to be a very generic period murder mystery Myers throws out a completely unpredictable twist at the end. Even without the twist though the book sucks you in from page one and keeps you interested with a complicated plot of long-lost heirs, unrequited love, and the complete lack of control women had over their lives. This would be perfect for fans of the Sebastian St. Cyr series.
And as always thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for the eArc, this review has been left voluntarily.
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