Review: my favorite regency yet!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 11, 2013
I had to give this book one of my rare 5-star ratings.  It has elements I love (i.e. white-knuckle suspense, twists, intrigue, romance to name but a few), and is a great story overall.  I received an advance copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.It's the age of the Regency, and Jon Anglesby and his wife have not shared a table in years.  He regrets marrying her, but not for any fault of hers.  He wishes her only happiness, and since he is dying, he has made arrangements for any progeny, which she is still young enough to have, to inherit his title of the Earl of Marbone.  Unfortunately, she also is not expected to live long.During their meeting, Lady Marbone witnesses a young lady who is ill-treated by her brother.  He has taken the last of the family's money from her room, leaving nothing for them to pay for their room or passage home from this vacation spot.  Shortly after, she and Lord Marbone see the same girl fending off the attentions of a young rake who they have seen in the company of her brother.  Lord Marbone even advises her of how to better deliver a left hook!Knowing what it is like to be at the mercy of uncaring parents and a rogue brother who besmirches her honor instead of defending it, Lady Marbone slips the girl enough money to pay for their stay and trip home.  The girl tries to say 'no', but ends up reluctantly accepting and expresses her gratitude.  The girl is obviously proud, but intelligent enough to know when to say `thank you'.Soon after Catherine Walman and her family return home, she finds her brother James up to his tricks again.  Their parents do nothing to curb the extravagance of their precious son.  As the only one in the household responsible enough to manage the finances, Catherine is told `surely you can cut back on something else' when her brother over-extends himself.  There IS nowhere to cut back!  There hasn't been for some time.  The only remaining staff has not been paid for months as it is, and it doesn't look like they will be in the near future.  No one but she seems to care they're on the verge of being evicted for non-payment of the mortgage.  In an effort to keep Catherine from keeping any money away from James, they hide the incoming mail from her.  ...Then James' `wife' shows up with a petulant infant son in tow, doing nothing but complain about the lack of money, fine food, a new wardrobe fitting the `lady of the house' (meaning herself...WHAT?  His mother IS still alive...) and fine things.Then one day, completely by chance, Catherine intercepts the post.  There is a letter from a lawyer addressed to her, and it's clear when she reads it that someone else in the house has intercepted previous post from this lawyer and responded to him while pretending to be her.  She learns she has inherited an estate from someone she does not know.  She immediately knows it is her brother, James, and his vile wife who have been responding, supposedly on her behalf.  Taking her only her maid, Kay, and a bag of belongings, she disappears that night.  The lawyer had `advanced' a rather large sum of money - at the request of her brother to `pay for travel' - and she uses it to make her way to Windermere to meet with the lawyer.Once she arrives, she meets with the lawyer, a Mr. Fitzhugh, and the local magistrate, Sir Philip De Clerke.  She immediately recognizes Sir Philip as the man who visited her home town over the summer, though she doesn't realize his intention in visiting was to investigate her!  Lord and Lady Marbone had her investigated to see if she was the type of person they suspected her to be.  She is informed that there are no `legitimate' heirs to the Marbone title, considerable fortune and estates, and the Anglesby's have bequeathed it to her!  Not only that, her first born son will inherit the Marbone title.Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with this.  It isn't long before she has to fire the housekeeper, she herself falls ill repeatedly with stomach issues, and bodies start to pile up in the region.  Every time Sir Philip thinks he has found answers and is getting closer to finding out who is killing people, even more questions pile up.I have to say, when I finally got to the end and found out who was responsible for everything, I definitely did not see it coming.  I normally figure out the antagonist fairly early in the book, and I admit I had some suspicions, but it definitely did not play out as I had expected!