Another good mystery. ( )

1830 On the way to Edinburgh with her sister Alana and family, Lady Darby decides to stay at the home of her old friend Michael Dalmay as he is about to be married. But there is a secret to be revealed and the case of a missing local girl, Mary Wallace. But is there a connection between the two.
An enjoyable and well-written historical mystery. ( )

Lady Kiera Darby and her pregnant sister and brother-in-law are on the road to Edinburgh when they stop off at a friends' house. Michael Dalmay is about to be married and there is pressure on him to assume the Baronetcy, but his troubled brother who was heir, is alive, not dead as rumoured, but his sanity is in question. He had been in an experimental asylum and now his brother is trying to do right by him. When a girls body is found all eyes turn to the madman but Lady Kiera is certain the story is more complicated, and she's right. Accompanied by Gage she once again investigates and the truth is complicated.

It was an interesting read and I look forward to more about this interesting character. ( )

Lady Darby fan here. She’s travelling with her sister and brother=in-law to Edinburgh because her sister is having a difficult pregnancy and needs to be near her doctor. Enroute they receive a letter from a friend who requests their help and they make the stop. Michael Dalmay older brother (believed dead) is now back home after spending 10 years in an insane asylum. Rumors abound that he is responsible for some unexplained murders in the area. Of course Sebastian Gage is there too and their more interaction and tension between him and Keira. Exciting ending although I would like to see Keira stop and think before racing off into the middle of danger again ( )

Keira, her sister Alana, and her brother-in-law Philip are on their way from the Highlands of Scotland to Edinburgh where Alanna can be nearer to medical assistance for her latest pregnancy when they take a side trip to deal with a summons from Philip's aunt. Lady Hollingworth has some qualms about her daughter's engagement to Michael Dalmay, a childhood friend of Alana and Keira. Michael's older brother has been missing for some years and Lady Hollingsworth wants Michael to petition to have him declared dead so that he can become the new Baron.

This would be a tense enough situation for Keira, Philip and Alana to come in on, but it gets worse. Gage is there after leaving Keira quite abruptly at the conclusion of their last adventure. Keira has a number of questions about their relationship or lack of one. Even more confusing is that Keira learns that Michael's older brother Will is not dead but had been committed to a lunatic asylum by his father ten years earlier. Upon his father's death, Michael had searched to locate his brother and bring him home. Will's problems began when he was fighting for England in the war against Napoleon. He suffered from melancholia and nightmares. His incarceration in the primitive and cruel environment of asylums at the time did not improve his sanity.

Keira remembers Will fondly. He was her art tutor for some months when she was fifteen. She refuses to believe that he would be violent and that he was responsible for the disappearance of a young local woman. Gage is not at all sure that Will is as harmless as Keira believes he is. However, they team up to investigate both the young woman's disappearance and Will's continuing mental problems.

This was an excellent historical mystery. I enjoy the growing relationship between Gage and Keira even though his secretiveness is almost enough to derail any hope of a relationship. I liked the historical accuracy of the story and the information about the early days of medical discoveries and almost total ignorance of mental illness which played a major role in the plot. I also liked learning about the state of law enforcement at the time in the person of Constable Paxton who uses his position as a way to boost his ego and importance.

I look forward to reading more of Keira and Gage's adventures. ( )