I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour for a fair and honest review and rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

During the Regency period in England, one of the worst things a man could do to his family was to leave his financial affairs in disarray and place his wife and children in danger of not only losing their social position but of also losing their home. If the family was lucky, and they had a sought after title, and the oldest child was of age to “marry up”, they could save their family from ruin with an arranged marriage. Such is the sad and perilous situation that Harold Emison finds himself thrust into in To Wed an Heiress by Rosanne E. Lortz. Filled with colorful characters, a solid murder mystery and plenty of suspense and drama, this enjoyable story could easily be transformed into a BBC production for fans of period mystery pieces such as Death Comes to Pemberley, a miniseries I recently had the pleasure of watching.

Already saddened over the death of his father, Harold “Haro” Emison, the new Earl of Anglesford, is distraught to discover his father’s excessive gambling has placed their family in a perilous financial situation. Forced to think of his family’s future, instead of his heart’s desire, Haro is forced to begin searching for a rich wife. Fortunately for Haro, Arabella Hasting, the daughter of a rich and successful cotton industrialist, is looking for a titled husband. Quickly becoming engaged to marry Arabella, Haro’s plans are ruined when Arabella is killed and he finds himself as “the usual suspect”. Forced to rely on help from Eda Swanycke, his cousin and the woman he really loves, Haro and Eda will have to solve Arabella’s murder in order to keep Haro’s neck away from the gallows noose.

Ms. Lortz does a good job developing the characters in her story and I easily connected with both Haro and Eda, two young would be lovers who are being forced apart by a father’s bad money management. A man devoted to his family, Haro was willing to sacrifice his own happiness, and the happiness of his cousin, in order to save his family’s financial future. I also easily connected with Eda, while hurt and angry over being pushed aside for a rich heiress, who was practical overall and willing to help Haro when she could have turned her back on him. While I wanted to dislike Arabella, I found it impossible to do so. She was only a daughter helping her father achieve his dream of changing their family’s social status from its position in the “middle class” to becoming a member of the nobility.

The secondary characters are also well developed and I especially liked Haro’s family; his mother Lady Edith and his younger brother Torin, were supportive and understood the sacrifice he was making for all of their futures. I also enjoyed getting to know Inspector Pevensie, the man assigned to investigate Arabella’s murder and whose hobby of sketching played a part in the book. The murder mystery itself was well handled and took several interesting twists and turns, and of course the villain was easily to hate.

Will Haro and Eda prove who the real killer is? Will the love they feel for each other have a chance to grow and lead to their marriage or will the financial situation Haro is in keep him from the woman he loves? You’ll have to read To Wed an Heiress to find out I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of Ms. Lortz’s work. ( )