The Sign of Death by Callie Hutton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As I was browsing the list of advanced reader copies to request (thank you, Netgalley!), I spied the words “Victorian Book Club Mystery”. What’s not to like about any of that? What I found in The Sign of Death by Callie Hutton was an entertaining romp with plenty of quirky characters, red herrings and actual book club discussions around some of the great mystery stories of the day.
Lord William Wethington and Lady Amy Lovell are content with their comfortable lives in Bath, England until William learns from his loving but interfering mother that she’s coming to live with him, and Amy, a successful mystery author writing under a pseudonym, is ordered by her publisher to show up in person at the Mystery Book Club of Bath book fair. To add to the confusion, William and Amy are suddenly thrust into the midst of a new mystery – the death of James Harding, William’s man of business. Mr. Harding’s reliability has been questionable of late, so when William is asked to identify the man’s body, he realizes that his concerns may have been valid. Headstrong Amy insists that she will help and they set out to discover just how shady Mr. Harding’s dealings have been. With blackmail and embezzlement being Mr. Harding’s crimes of choice, there are no lack of suspects but as luck would have it, William seems to be the police’s favored suspect.
Now, not only does William have to worry about being wrongly accused of murder, he has to undo the damage that Harding has done to his finances and reputation, not to mention keeping his mother from proposing to Amy on his behalf. In the meantime, Amy is having to deal with her father’s displeasure about her publisher’s ultimatum. William and Amy have to work quickly before William is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, they get themselves killed by the real murderer, William’s mother gets him married off and Amy’s professional identity is revealed!
Even though The Sign of Death is the second book in the series, it was effortless for me to get immersed in the unconventional lives of Lady Amy, Lord William and their friends and families. There was plenty of what you expect to find in a cozy Victorian mystery – tasteful murders, local landmarks, assemblies, social calls and the occasional visit to a seedy pub – but still enough quirkiness in the characters and situations to make the story fresh. The two family’s hijinks to bring William and Amy together in matrimony, while they are trying (somewhat) to avoid it, is amusing, as is Amy’s frustrated attempts to be a proper Victorian lady.
There are a few minor things that, for me, are a little distracting and unrealistic for the customs of the time, such the amount of time William and Amy spend alone together and the number of times William kisses Amy in public. However, these are minor issues and don’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. So I highly recommend that you get that cup of tea, settle into a comfy reading nook and enjoy this delightful mystery!