Cara Devlin

Taken to the Grave by Cara Devlin
Bow Street Duchess Mystery #7

Goodbyes are never easy and saying goodbye to this series will be difficult. Then again, there are a couple of promising characters introduced in this series that soon will have a book of their own..perhaps even a series? I wouldn’t mind seeing Cassie and Thornton end up working together as they fall in loved just as Audrey and Hugh did in this series.

This series was a slow burn romance for a couple that never expected to have the opportunity to live and love together and yet eventually found their way to just that. Why? Because Audrey was married already and the social divide between the two was extreme. Reading the entire series is my recommendation as each book builds on the last book and you won’t want to miss anything.

As this book begins, Hugh has stopped working full time for Bow Street now that he is a Viscount. A woman he can’t say no to shows up seeking assistance in finding her missing niece who everyone believes has eloped. Unsure what to think, Hugh and Audrey end up working together to find out where this woman is and what might have happened to her. As they sleuth they find a body, a number of clues, some murderers, learn of a secret society, and eventually find answers that save some but not all while taking into custody some very evil people.

I enjoyed seeing the characters that have been there throughout: Sir, Basil, Greer, Carrigan, and others. The way the lives of these characters are working out is fun to see. I loved that Hugh and Audrey do get their chance at happiness, put behind them some of their worries, there are no strings left hanging, and in the epilogue there was a glimpse into their lives a year down the road.

I loved this series, the characters that populated it, the murder mysteries solved, and the believable enduring love between Hugh and Audrey that leaped off the page. This is a couple that I would like to meet and be friends with.

Thank you to the author and BookSirens for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars… (más)

Nature of the Crime by Cara Devlin
Bow Street Duchess Mystery #6

Excellent addition to the series ~ Couldn’t put it down!

What I liked:
* Audrey: dowager duchess of Fournier, has been traveling in Europe for five months with her sister-in-law Cassie, in love with Hugh, enjoys solving mysteries, intelligent, impulsive, possesses paranormal psychometric abilities, is accused of a murder she did not commit, her life is in danger
* Hugh Marsden, Viscount Neath: ex-principal Bow Street officer, scandal in his past, good friend of Dr. Thornton, well-educated and eloquent, protective, intelligent, accepting, intriguing, in love with Audrey and plans to marry her when she is finished with the mourning period
* Sir: born with the name Davy Given, a young man from the streets befriended and employed by Hugh as his assistant, savvy, capable, resourceful, intelligent, growing up quickly, stays away from his abusive father
* Thornton: physician, Hugh’s friend, compassionate, capable, supportive, widow that loved his wife, intriguing, might be interested in Cassie
* Cassie: Audrey’s sister-in-law, had a misfortunate situation to deal with in a previous book that has left her less than willing to trust men, looking forward to seeing what her future holds in store for her, she may be interested in Thornton
* The mystery of who actually killed three men and how it tied into previous books in the series
* The romance developing between Audrey’s lady’s maid and her driver
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* That all the threads of the story were tied up neatly by the end of the book
* Looking forward to the next and possibly final book in the series that will be published later this year

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about how evil and selfish the bad guys were

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to BookSirens and the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars… (más)