The Duke's Murder Portrait and Other Unfinished Compliments

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 have already carried a duke, an entire art institution, and one extremely punctual corpse from sentence to sentence without anyone so much as offering me a restorative sherry. And now they have decided I must also entice you into the mess. Splendid.

A corpse behind a curtain, an unfinished Renfrew portrait, and a duke who treats paintings like evidence should have been more than enough excitement for one morning at the Royal Academy. Then Mr Edwin Larke, critic, creditor, and professional ruin of pleasant conversations, takes a pinch of snuff and obligingly dies on schedule, leaving a pale trail of powder and the sort of silence that makes even the most talkative patron remember they possess a spine.

Dorothea Pemberton paints miniatures and copies engravings for Mr Bligh, which is a genteel way of saying she survives by having sharp eyes and a quieter voice than men expect. Unfortunately for everyone involved, her eyes are sharper than the Academy’s conscience. When His Grace Lucian Fallowfield, Duke of Marlesford, decides the portrait he has lent his name to may be stitched together with lies, he drags Dorothea straight into the gallery shadows, where varnish does not hide cracks, and snuff does not stay politely harmless.

Bow Street’s Finch wants the truth in a neat chain of facts. The Duke wants his name kept out of the inquest. Dorothea wants to keep her livelihood, her reputation, and her head firmly attached, preferably without becoming Lady Honoria’s new hobby. Between a “preserver” who improves faces, a baronet with rats and bills, and a roomful of people who wished Larke dead enough to call it fate, Dorothea must follow the poison from brush to box without letting society paint her as the next scandal.

Expect a clue-rich, on-the-page mystery with a satisfying, logical unpicking, plus a closed-door slow-burn romance with a happy-for-now ending. No gore, just excellent manners behaving badly.

Perfect for readers who like art-world gossip, sharp banter, competent investigation, and a heroine who notices every crack a powerful man wishes were invisible, with a duke who learns that honesty is an expensive taste.

This is a complete, stand alone case in the Regency: Corpses & Courtship Club world, so you may start here without being chased by continuity. Go on then, click Look Inside, and let us draw the curtain back.