This was a nice series opener, set in Regency-era England, that brings together widow Ottilia Draycott and Lord Francis Fanshawe as they tried to determine who murdered Fan's unfaithful sister-in-law, hoping that the murderer is not Fan's brother, Lord Polbrook, who happens to be missing soon after the the commission of the murder.

Ottilia, having just accepted the position of Fan's mother's companion, immediately (and to be honestly, somewhat improbably) takes over the investigation. Her position allows her to question everyone in the household from servants to nobility, and she is not shy in her pursuit of the villain.

The writing is layered and, sometimes, slow-paced. Shaving 50 pages off the length might have helped. Nevertheless, there is chemistry between the principals and the mystery is logically unraveled. I will be looking for the second book.

Full Disclosure--Net Gallery and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

The premise of this mystery was intriguing and I looked forward to reading it, but the execution was not good. I really wanted to like this one, but had to force myself to finish it.