Monday, December 23, 2013

Review of Behind the Scattered Glass by Tasha Alexander


I received a terrific audio book from Macmillan Audio. It is Tasha Alexander’s #8 book in the Lady Emily series.

Lady Emily and her husband Colin Hargreaves are in the drawing room of their estate in Anglemore Park when their neighbor, Lord Archibald Scolfield, the Marquess of Montague staggers in, collapses and dies. Colin is an intelligence agent for the British Crown so he and Emily are no strangers to murder investigations.

It is not long before Colin and Emily begin to suspect four people. The first of those is Lady Matilda, Archibald’s cousin who shared his estate with him and who feared his upcoming marriage would leave her homeless.  The second possible suspect is a former friend from college who Archibald accused of cheating and as a result was kicked out of school.  The third suspect is the vicar’s daughter who was supposedly secretly engaged to the former Marquess of Montague. The last suspect is Rodney Scolfield, a distant cousin whom no one knew existed and has laid claim to the title of Marquess of Montague.

Each suspect appears to have a motive and an alibi. But what is interesting is that the murderer happens to be the last person you would suspect or that even Lady Emily could suspect. 

I really loved this audio book because it takes you through the glamour of the upper-class as well as through the servant quarters of a fine English estate. Being a murder mystery fan, it kept me at the edge of my seat until the very end.  At some point, I realized who the murderer was and I kept praying I was wrong since I really liked that character. 

Behind the Scattered Glass by Tasha Alexander is the 8th book in the Lady Emily series.  It was a fun read with Emily being a tongue in cheek character.  I also enjoyed reading about the investigation and the light flirtation between Colin and Emily. I particularly loved the love/hate constant bickering between Lady Matilda and Rodney Scotfield.  Despite being set in in Victorian times, it was an enjoyable novel.

Title:  Behind the Shattered Glass
Author:  Tasha Alexander
Series:  Lady Emily Ashton Mystery #8
Publisher:  Minotaur Books
Publication Date:  October 15, 2013
Pages:  304
Genre:  Historical Mystery

Get It:  Amazon; Barnes & Noble

I did not receive compensation for this review.  I did, however, receive a free audiobook for my review.