Blodeuedd's Monday Review: Murder in Highbury by Vanessa Kelly

An Emma Knightley Mystery, Book 1

By: Vanessa Kelly

Narrated by: Polly Lee

Series: Emma Knightley Mysteries, Book 1

Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins

Release date: 10-22-24

Historical mystery/crime

I can¨t say too much here. It is a Emma variation story. She and Knigthley are happily married and life is good. Until Emma comes across a murdered Mrs Elton in the church.

This is a crime/detective story. Emma being the investigator behind the scenes. There is a cop, a coroner and Mr Knightley as the magistrate doing their job. Trying to solve this murder, but it is not going so well.

Someone local will be blamed. Someone well known. And All while Emma is trying to put the pieces together. Who wanted Mrs Elton dead? (I mean she was not the kindest of people.) A thief? Someone she knew?

Pieces are coming together and then not. So many things comes to light.

Quite the mystery. Things are not always as they seem,

Good narration. I could see the people and their voices, she did well.

Less than one year into her marriage to respected magistrate George Knightley, Emma has grown unusually content in her newfound partnership and refreshed sense of independence. The height of summer sees the former Miss Woodhouse gracefully balancing the meticulous management of her elegant family estate and a flurry of social engagements, with few worries apart from her beloved father’s health . . .    But cheery circumstances change in an instant when Emma and Harriet Martin, now the wife of one of Mr. Knightley’s tenant farmers, discover a hideous shock at the local church. The corpse of Mrs. Augusta Elton, the vicar’s wife, has been discarded on the altar steps—the ornate necklace she often wore stripped from her neck . . .    As a chilling murder mystery blooms and chaos descends upon the tranquil village of Highbury, the question isn’t simply who committed the crime, but who wasn’t secretly wishing for the unpleasant woman’s demise. When suspicions suddenly fall on a harmless local, Emma—armed with wit, unwavering determination, and extensive social connections—realizes she must discreetly navigate an investigation of her own to protect the innocent and expose the ruthless culprit hiding in plain sight.

B's Monday Review: The Highlander Who Protected Me by Vanessa Kelly

Book 1 in the Clan Kendrick series

Author Vanessa Kelly

Narrated by Ruth Urquhart

Publication date Oct 30, 2018

Running time 13 hrs 3 min

Historical romance

For review

My Thoughts:

Royal is one of those wounded heroes. And with that I mean his leg aches from a war injury, a bad one. Who wants a second son with a limp?

Ainsley was, oh my, she was the sassy one. But she was also a spoiled darling of the ton. Still, she was a good clever woman with some tongue on her.

These two met in a previous series, where he tries to elope with her and she is all in your dreams! Which I never understood, but now I do.

Instead we get to see their first meeting and how he could never forget her. Then they meet again in Glasgow in that other series I mentioned. But this one really begins after that. He pining for her and she hiding a pregnancy! Whaat I thought? What happened? Because her family does not even know, so something must have happened and obviously nothing good. I did feel for her, poor woman. And she would have been blamed every time. It is always the woman's fault.

The book does take some time to get going. She gives him her baby because no one can know. The secret she is hiding is easy to know, but there is some other big secret too, but honestly that secret was not big and could have been dealt with. I also did not get why the father would have had any say. It was his words against hers, and Royal who said it was his kid. Oh well, drama and a baddie is always needed.

It could have been shorter. Maybe take away some of the dialogue. Shorter is always nice.

Conclusion:
A good book. A good baddie that you want to kick in the nuts. Two people that love each other, but take ages getting together. And one cute baby. I also liked that she was pregnant, you do not see that around a lot in regency books. It dealt with harsher things in life.

Narrator

I really like Ruth Urqhart. Her accent is wonderful. I have listened to a few of her books and they are a joy.

Sample

Full Synopsis

Lady Ainsley Matthews, heiress and darling of the ton, was expected to make a magnificent match. Instead she's hiding on a remote Scottish estate, terrified that her vicious former fiancé will use her pregnancy to force her into marriage. One man can help her—Royal Kendrick, son of a distinguished Highland clan. Though a mistake drove them apart long ago, Royal is the only person Ainsley trusts to protect her baby—even if that means agreeing to never see either of them again . . .

Scarred in body and soul by war, Royal suddenly has a purpose—caring for an innocent babe and thereby helping the woman he can't stop loving. But when Ainsley ultimately returns to Scotland, determined to be a real mother to her child in spite of the risk, there's only one solution: marriage. And only one likely outcome: surrendering to the desire that's simmered between them for so long, no matter how dangerous it may be . . .