Murder, Matrimony, and Other Tuesday Engagements

A Cozy Regency Mystery of Love and Murder

By: Marisa Paxon

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

I am the narrator of this book, which means I already carried every waltz, whisper, and corpse across the finish line, and now “they” have decided I should also stand in the foyer and beckon strangers inside. Splendid.

Miss Clemency Harrow arrives at Ashbourne Hall on a Tuesday with a sensible spine, an insolvent father, and an engagement arranged as neatly as a place setting, right down to the Earl waiting at the bottom of the stairs like a man who has never trusted soup. Unfortunately, the house has opinions, the guests have secrets, and Mr Horace Pettigrew has come armed with moral improvement and a talent for making enemies at conversational volume. He does not survive dinner. Neither does anyone’s appetite.

So Clemency does what any practical woman does when a man expires mid toast: she starts counting. Who poured the wine. Who touched the decanter. Who drifted too near the sideboard. Who has the sort of handwriting that shows up on anonymous notes and the sort of conscience that thinks it may tidy up a household by removing a nuisance. With a cool headed heroine, a guarded Earl whose family debts have teeth, and a cousin with a notebook and the emotional warmth of fresh ink, the investigation turns the grand house inside out, right down to the stillroom, the ledgers, and the dangerous little truths everyone keeps polishing for public display.

Because if Clemency fails, she does not merely lose a courtship, she loses her family’s last thin scrap of security, and she becomes the woman who brought scandal to Ashbourne along with her bonnet. And society loves a woman to blame, it is practically a national hobby.

Perfect for readers who like clue-rich, fair-play Regency whodunits, sharp banter, house parties that rot politely from the inside, and an emotionally satisfying, closed door romance with an HEA, all without gore, hysteria, or anyone ripping their bodice in public.

It is a complete, stand alone case in the Regency: Corpses & Courtship Club world, meaning you may enter here without doing homework, unlike Pettigrew, and look how that turned out. Go on then, click Look Inside and let us see whether you can survive Tuesday.

A pleasant way to spend an afternoon

A pleasant cozy mystery that gave me an afternoon of respite. I liked the story and the characters. I was guessing who the murderer was until the lat hour. I was surprised the virtual voice narration was so easy on my ears. I look forward to listening to more of Marisa’s stories.