Book review: Sweet Revenge by Andrea Penrose (A Lady Arianna mystery)

Sweet Revenge by Andrea Penrose

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The debut novel of the Lady Arianna Regency Mysteries (I think my theory is that if I keep discovering new good series, I will never run out of books to read. I think I will never run out of books to read anyway, but that’s a different matter altogether.)
This series is actually an earlier series from the same author as the Wrexford & Sloane series. Both of these historical mystery series have a female protagonist that is “modern,” in that the character does not consider herself bound by the female norms of the times. Both do it because they have no choice–life has dealt each a bad hand.
Lady Arianna has accumulated some interesting skills as part of her unusual childhood, and these skills come in handy in her initial quest to seek revenge for her father and then in her subsequent quest to find a murderer.
This is a grittier, darker Regency mystery series, more along the lines of C.S. Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr series (although not quite as dark) then Georgette Heyer mysteries. The perspectives of hero and heroine are interesting and unusual, and the mysteries are well crafted. I am thoroughly enjoying this series!



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Book review: Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose

Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the first novel in a mystery series with an interesting premise. The hero, Lord Wrexford, is a member of the aristocracy and very scientifically minded. The heroine, A.J. Quill, is a satirical artist, who seems to know facts about the murder before the police or Lord Wrexford discover them. The murder of a priest brings them together, working in tandem (kind of).
The plot is an intricate one and while I figured out the villain halfway through (which I try never to do when reading mysteries), I like the main characters, I like the plotting (and the plot), and I like the time period. I also tend to give authors the benefit of the doubt in the first of a mystery series, and this book is well written, which is promising.
I’ve already bought the second in the series! 🙂



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