As is usual in the Wrexford & Sloane series, the titular murder is only the beginning of the mystery. Also, as usual, the reader both is and is not a witness to said murder. We hear what is said, and done, but we get few, if any clues about who the perpetrator might be. At least, not until Wrex and his wife Charlotte discover that the deed was done – and that it hits a little too close to home.

No matter how much, or how sincerely, they promised each other that they wanted a bit of peace and quiet with no murder investigations at the end of the previous book in the series, Murder at the Serpentine Bridge.

(They promise each other the same at the end of this entry in the series. I’m getting the impression that THAT is going to be a recurring theme of the series – one of the VERY few things they promise each other and the rest of their family that is doomed to lay unfulfilled. On that other hand, if their lives were that peaceful, this marvelous series wouldn’t exist!)

The mystery in this particular entry in the series hits both close to home and reaches back into the past. It’s also a case of woulda, coulda, shoulda in more ways than one.

One of the regrets of Wrex’ life before he met Charlotte is related to the death of his younger brother, Thomas, during the recently concluded, or at least paused, Napoleonic Wars. (Napoleon is in exile on Elba in the process of becoming less “able” as that old palindrome had it, “Able was I ere I saw Elba.”

Wrex’ brother and his cohort died by treachery, as someone on the British side sold their location to the French for gold. But the identity of the traitor was never uncovered. Eight years later, the only survivor of Thomas’ unit finally figures out that identity – right before the man kills him in ice-cold blood.

Wrex owes it to his brother, owes it to his own past, that the traitor be unmasked and brought to justice. Meanwhile, his wife Charlotte, AKA the satirical cartoonist A.J. Quill, is mired in an investigation of her own in London, looking into the possibilities of corporate espionage that surround the race to solve an engineering problem that will, quite literally, change the world.

Several inventors say they are on the cusp of building a steam engine capable of powering a ship out of sight of land and out of the reach of fuel – across the vast oceans.

If Britain owns the solution, their naval power will be assured for centuries. If the newly-fledged United States figures it out first, the century will be theirs. If Russia manages to steal either the plans or the engineers who make them – or better yet both – they will become a superpower the likes of which they have not yet dreamed of.

The two cases, a murder in Oxford – at Merton Library, hence the title of the book – and theft, arson and fraud in London, shouldn’t REALLY have any relationship to each other. But there are few if any clues in either case, leading Wrex, Charlotte and their ever-growing found family to cast about for the tiniest of threads that might point them in the right direction.

Or any.

As those threads are gathered, they do point somewhere, but not anywhere that either Wrex or Charlotte imagined. Because those clues all point towards their two cases becoming one – even though neither of them believes that makes any sense at all.

But as another famous detective will have said, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

Escape Rating A-: I discovered this series last summer – another time when I was hunting for a good mystery series – and it has been an absolute delight every single time I’ve picked the series back up. But I held onto this entry because I’ve learned that no matter how great a series is – and this absolutely is – it just isn’t a good idea to read the series books too closely together no matter how much I’m tempted.

But when I picked up the eARC for the next book, Murder at King’s Crossing, last week, I decided it was time to get caught up, so here we are. Also, I just can’t resist a murder set in a library – even if the story doesn’t stay in the library quite as long as I might have liked.

I said at the top that this was a ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’ kind of story. What I meant by that is that there are elements of both mysteries that were on the cusp of going a different way, or rather, in one case a character should have made a different choice, and in another, an invention would have happened IF real, historical circumstances had been just a bit different.

The macguffin that drives much of this story is almost real. Or rather, is in the process of becoming real but isn’t quite there yet. As this story takes place in 1814, steam power has been proven to work and is already revolutionizing transportation. Ocean-going vessels are the next big – really, really big – step. It’s a problem that is absolutely going to be solved and certainly was solved within the decade.

All of which means that the developments were oh-so-close and the stakes were oh-so-high, so it’s not surprising that the competition was equally as fierce, that corporate and government espionage was a very real factor, and that the possibilities for financial fraud were ridiculously high, giving that side of the mystery equation an air of plausibility, near-certainty, and hope triumphing over experience that felt very real.

At the same time, Wrex’ side of the mystery, the part that revolved around the death of his brother, was equally familiar but for different reasons. There have been other Regency-set mystery series where exactly this type of treason led to just this manner of death for someone close to the protagonist – with just the same desire for revenge and retribution motivating the investigator, whether amateur or professions, to bend more of the rules than is comfortable for either the character or the reader. (I know I’ve read at least one such book relatively recently, so if this plot sounds familiar to you and you recall what it was, please let me know!)

And on my third hand, one of the people caught up in this farrago clearly wasn’t onboard with all the deviltry involved, and could have had made much different choices, and we are confused by and feel for that character almost as much as Charlotte does.

Overall and absolutely positively, I had a grand time with this entry in the series, as it tells two mysteries very well, feels marvelously steeped in its time and place, AND allows for character growth on the part of most of the members of the family. It certainly had this reader on the edge of their seat as everything built to an explosive crisis.

So now I’m twice as eager as I was before to start Murder at King’s Crossing, and am glad that I only have a few months to wait!

Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Andrea Penrose

When I requested this book I was unaware that it was apart of a series, one that requires you to read the previous books for this one to make sense. I am unable to read all the previous books along with this one before the publish date. Therefore, I will rate this a fair 3/5 stars and will adjust the rating and review when I am able to read all the books in the series along with this one.

Murder at the Merton Library is the 7th Wrexford & Sloane regency mystery by Andrea Penrose. Released 28th Aug 2023 by Kensington, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in July 2024. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is an engaging and well written series. It's an ensemble character driven cozy(ish) historical murder mystery with a strong element of romance. The author has written the story around a framework of fictionalized historical characters and she does a good job of interweaving the real historical facts with the fictional narrative allowing for some minor poetic license regarding names, dates, and times.

Although self-contained in the narrative arc, the cast of characters have a long history together, so it works well enough as a standalone, but it's strongly recommend to read the series in order because of character development spoilers (in fact the titular series characters have progressed from near-enemies in book one to stably married and settled now). The language is very clean, there's some violence used in context, and very little sexual content.

The author does take some thinly veiled pokes at colonialism, racism, slavery, unscrupulous profiteers, and the military industrial complex in this book which have distinct takeaways for our modern world. The narrative arc and denouement and resolution are satisfying for the genre (a little swoony and overwrought, but not egregiously so). This is the seventh book, and it's not quite as outstanding as the sister volumes, but it -is- still head and shoulders above much of the genre.

Enjoyable cozy murder / romance. Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I love cozy historical mysteries, and Andrea Penrose writes fantastic series. The Oxford library setting in this installment was particularly atmospheric. The stories do tend to get slightly repetitive as the series goes on, but sometimes that is exactly why I want to read it. I look forward to the next book.

Brilliant story, Brilliant series, LOVE these characters. Andrea Penrose has excelled every single time, I cannot recommend this one enough. For those who love an intriguing historical murder mystery - this one's for you. If you like complicated family dynamics, you'll enjoy it too. I read them - and reread them!

With thanks to Netgalley, Kensington books and the author for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review

Wrexford and Sloane are back again in this next installment in the Regency historical mystery series. This time, they’re investigating two crimes that seem unrelated…the murder of the head librarian at Oxford’s Merton Library and an arson fire that destroyed a laboratory…but are linked by the race to develop the first ocean-going steamship.

This series draws you into the historical period and you really feel like you understand the time better as the characters solve crimes as they navigate the customs of the period.

The characters grow and develop in each new book, and you meet more of their extended family and friends circle. The Weasels, of course, play a prominent part in this newest book, including the newest weasel Peregrine. Aunt Alison gets a much bigger part and doesn’t disappoint.

Andrea Penrose’s research is impeccable and her mysteries are intriguing, but it’s the characters that keep drawing me back to this series. They’re well-rounded, interesting and it’s fun to enjoy the interactions of their fictional group.

Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose is the latest in the Wrexford & Sloane Mysteries. Between the murders, one learns a lot about the trial development of ocean-going steamships and gets introduced to more extended family members. These books are a good introduction to Regency England and both the upper classes and the lower group. The family characters are all very likeable and the villians are suitably evil.

An intrigue filled mystery. Highly entertaining and much recommended.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Always a pleasure to delve into the world of A.J. Quill.
Wrexham receives an urgent note to visit his late brother’s friend in Oxford, upon arrival he finds out that he is too late. Charlotte and the weasel delve into the world in the race of the first steam-powered ships to cross the Atlantic.
As always, things seem to disconnect and then there is lightbulb moment. Another great installment in the series

A laboratory fire is more than it seems when it appears theft was the true crime. Another well researched book by Penrose, this time around the race to build ships that can cross the ocean under the power of steam, but the forward momentum of the story gets lost in minutia. My favorite parts of these books are the Weasels, which is why I continue to read this series.

Book seven of the series but the first for me. Good historical murder mystery with good characters. Will be reading more from this series.

Murder at the Merton Library, the latest installment in the Andrea Penrose series, is a solid mystery. The main characters have become more fleshed out as the has series matured, and their relationships have gained depth making the reading experience more engaging. Though the culprits were fairly obvious early on in the story, the historical information kept my interest. The pacing of the story tended towards slightly plodding; a brisker pace would not be unwelcome in future installments. Despite this, I will continue to read future books in this series and look forward to the continuing evolution of the characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Andrea Penrose continue the Wrexford and Sloane Regency mysteries in Murder at the Merton Library. The Earl of Wrexford hastened to Merton College, Oxford, at the request of the librarian who was a friend of his late brother only to discover the librarian murdered and a manuscript stolen. As he pursues the murderer, his wife and friends are tracking who is unfairly trying to corner the market on an ocean going steamship. Murder, mayhem and scholarship along with the dirt of London. Great adventure and mystery.

Book 7 in the series. You don't have to have read any of the others to enjoy this one. All of the characters and backstory are adequately described without slowing down the narrative.
The Earl of Wrexford, his wife Charlotte, and a cast of other family and friends get caught up in two separate mysteries that eventually come together over the scientific search for ocean steam propulsion. The murder at the Merton Library starts off the story but the mysteries go much deep than what happened in the library. The steam propulsion mystery gets very technical which sometimes slowed down the narrative.

This was a good mystery and I enjoy the series. I read this one first even though it's last of the series. It's a good mystery series

Another wonderful read by this author. This book although part of a series can be read as a standalone story. It is much better though to read the ones before to fully understand the relationship between the characters. This is well written with lots of twists and turns, humor, suspense, mystery, and intrigue. It is very hard to put down once you start. I love the characters and the relationship and interaction between the adults and the children. There was so much research that went into this book. I was very intrigued about the way fast ocean ships were developed. There is no sex or swearing in this book which for me makes it even more enjoyable. I now look forward to the next one. I received this as an ARC from NetGalley and freely give my review.

It's always great to read a new mystery with Wrexford, Charlotte, and the weasels. This time it's two separate cases that bring them together. The head librarian at Oxford's Merton Library, and close friend to Wrexford's late brother has been murdered and material stolen, and Charlotte is trying to unravel whether a fire that destroyed a laboratory was arson in connection to competing organizations trying to build a new type of ship. With the two mysteries I felt it was well paced and came together very well. There were also technical aspects that I thought were well explained.

The mystery is always fun to try to unravel, but it's really the cast of characters that make these books so great. I love how we see a little more of Hawk, Raven, and Peregrine. Great-aunt Alison is also pretty cool in this. It’s an intriguing murder mystery and we get to see a little more of Wrexford’s feelings. I think if you are already familiar with this world then you will enjoy this.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for sharing this book with me in exchange for my honest review.

Love this series it is one of my favorites!

This one has Wrexford investigating the death of someone he knows and Charlotte was looking into something else but they both end up digging into the same things.

I love the atmosphere of this series and the banter between the characters, from Wrexford and Charlotte to the street rats they have adopted..

The mystery is always very good and I don't even try and solve it I just immerse myself into the time period and into the characters lives and enjoy.

Mr. Greeley, the head librarian at Oxford’s Merton Library, made a disturbing discovery and requested a meeting with the Earl of Wrexford. By the time Wrexford arrived at Oxford Greeley had been murdered. Greeley had served in the army with Wrexford’s late brother and he vows to find his murderer. At home his wife Charlotte is involved with an investigation of her own. Someone destroyed the laboratory of a prominent engineer. Charlotte is a satirical artist, publishing under the name of A.J. Quill. She uses her art to raise awareness of social issues and the arson that she witnessed raises questions. The engineer was currently working on a marine propulsion system that would provide faster travel and relieve dependence on wind power for shipping. Lord Taviot has been selling shares in a project that promises similar advances. Another incident at a naval facility working on a similar project has Charlotte looking into Taviot’s project. What Charlotte and her husband discover are ties between their respective investigations that put them in danger.

Wrexford and Charlotte are no strangers to investigations and they have a mutual respect for each other’s abilities. They are raising two orphans who call themselves Raven and Hawk. After living on the streets they are familiar with less affluent areas of the city. With their friend Peregrine, they are Wrexford’s own Baker Street Irregulars. Murder, fraud, sabotage and characters to love make this a most enjoyable mystery. I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing this book for my review.

Two lines of concern intersect to reveal treachery. The Earl of Wrexford responds to a desperate plea from a friend, only to discover the murder of a reclusive librarian and a missing rare manuscript in Oxford. Meanwhile, a suspicious laboratory fire with potential ties to a race between consortiums to develop steam-powered ships, draws Charlotte’s attention. To protect their band of friends and family, Wrexford and Charlotte unravel a sinister conspiracy that endangers everything they cherish unless they can piece together the puzzle in time.

My favorite earl and artist are back once again! I was surprised how emotional this story became. The past comes back to haunt the present, with details of how Wrexford’s brother was killed. This brings an urgency to his determination to uncover the identity of a murderer, to also bring justice for his brother.

As before, I enjoyed how the story plays with the idea of early inventions. The importance of them influences many decisions, but they are not quite where they need to be to succeed.

Overall, this was a well-paced and enjoyable read. I highly recommend it to readers who have been following the series and enjoy historical mysteries.