There are a large array of characters, but I feel like the author did a good job in giving just enough information about each to prevent confusion.

Emily is an enjoyable protagonist, if a bit unrealistic for her era. It reminds me a bit of gothic romances written by Victoria Holt or Mary Stewart, though it stays closer to a suspense novel than a romance. Non-Spoiler ReviewĮven if this book did have its weaknesses, it is an immensely enjoyable and light read. A year and a half after her death, Emily begins to learn more about the husband she never really knew and finds herself caught up in the black market for stolen artifacts, priceless ancient Greek statues, and two wealthy suitors. However, just after their marriage, her husband Philip Ashton dies while on a safari in Africa. Synopsis: Lady Emily Ashton never really knew her husband, having married him only to escape her bothersome mother.

Although I do think I would have enjoyed it more a few years ago, I did find this book difficult to put down. When I put it on my TBR, there were only four books in the series, which means I probably put it on there in 2009 (which tells you how long this series has been on my TBR). 'Tasha Alexander is one to watch - and read.This book is the first of the Lady Emily series, a series I have seen on the shelves of bookstores and libraries alike for years and, despite it being part of one of my favorite genres (historical cozy mysteries), I have never read it before. Alexander keeps readers guessing until the very end' Publishers Weekly ' This engaging, witty mix of Victorian cozy and suspense thriller draws its dramatic spark from the endearingly headstrong heroine's growth in life and love.

Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and immerses herself in his intellectual pursuits, studying Greek and spending time in the quiet corridors of the British Museum.īut there, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries - and as she sets out to solve the crime she discovers even more surprises about the husband she never knew. His journals reveal him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with his wife. Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that Philip was a far different man from the one she had married so cavalierly.

So when her new husband dies on safari soon after the wedding, she feels little grief. From New York Times bestselling author Tasha Alexander comes a stunning novel of historical suspense set in Victorian England, meticulously researched and with a twisty plot that involves stolen antiquities, betrayal, and murderįor Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was just an easy way to escape her stifling home life and overbearing mother.

Tasha alexander and only to deceive