I found this a bit long winded. Hopefully it's about setting the scene and the characters for the following books. It didn't put me off reading it though. It wasn't that long winded.

A good story, with realistic people and genuine British history brought into it. I'm looking forward to reading more about Lady Helena, she's a woman who is before her time.

What an amazing book!! I loved every second of this one, even with all the characters [and BOY are there A LOT of characters in this one] and killings!!

Lady Helena is the main character and she is recently widowed and also is dealing with the grief of losing her father as well. As time moves on, Lady Helena realizes that not all is as it seems and has to investigate to get to the truth and finally begin the healing process.

Filled with murder, incest, dementia and poisons, this is one book that will keep you on the edge of you seat while also making you tear up and laugh out loud.

I certainly hope there is a book #2.

For a regency mystery novel, I find the mystery so very light. Sure Lady Helena is investigating the death of her husband, but there is no sense of darkness surrounding his death or drive in her to solve the mystery. Merely curiosity that lead to her discovering things about the village where she lives that eventually leads to the answer about her husband's death. During this time, she also discovers things about her family that, as the second to the youngest child, she never saw before. And she discovers more about herself.

The book isn't a quick read, never mind how light the mystery of it all is. It doesn't read as a mystery novel, just a regency story with some mystery. Though I admit I'm a little curious on how Helena will grow in the next of the series...

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of the book

You would think with a book with the word 'investigates' in the title there would be investigations. There isn't. Once I embraced that most of the book will be about Helena dealing with her family it was an enjoyable read. However, Helena forgives far too easily the people who murders the people she loves. If there is more from this series, I wonder if she will become proactive in investigations.

I loved this book. I was like a mystery version of Downton Abbey. There were laugh out loud minutes, devistating secrets, and overbearing siblings. This book was expertly written and really I can't say enough good things. I loved the ending and hope there will be a 2nd one.

Very readable book, flows really well with a good mystery. Depicts the culture of the era really well and the characters a well developed. I enjoyed this book and found it difficult to put down

I really enjoyed this book. Its setting in the late 1800s is a wonderful time period to read about. I love the protagonist's viewpoint as a recently widowed young member of the aristocracy trying to assert herself as more than a decoration. She is looking for purpose in her life and resumes cultivating pants and working as a herbalist, like her mother before her.

There are several mysteries to be solved, beginning with the unexpected death of Lady Helena's husband. There is also the secret pregnancy of a land tenant's daughter (who had been a protegee of sorts to her mother in the past) and the death of the land tenant himself.

Lady Helena belongs to a large family - 5 older sisters and a younger brother (the Earl) and has always been referred to as Baby. She wishes to shed that nickname and be respected by her siblings as an adult.

The characters and setting are wonderfully described, well detailed and developed. I enjoyed her friendships with the doctor and his sister and look forward to reading the next book in the series.

*I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review*

This is a delightful tale of a recent widow (Helena) and how she tries to cope with her husband's sudden death. She is the youngest of six girls and the Earl. Their nickname for her is Baby. Armand Fortier is French, a physician and surgeon, he believed Justin was murdered but had no further evidence. There is a lot going on. She spends a lot of time thinking and missing her husband. She also has to deal with her family. Her mother is still alive but is very ill.
The characters are charming, busybody but well-meaning. The story is definitely twisted but it does keep your attention, and there are some surprises. I loved the way she described her quiet time with Justin and how they would read in the evenings.
I received this Arc from the author and voluntarily reviewed

I am a great fan of historical mysteries - especially from the Victorian age (thanks to my favorite brain-candy author, Victoria Holt). I am very excited to read future books about Lady Helena. I would however, relax a little bit about explaining all the horrible ins and outs - mostly outs - of Victorian society. I think most readers who are interested in fiction having to do with this era are aware of the horrible conditions women and not to mention all people of the “lower classes” had to endure. I am not at all suggesting that the horrible roles these people were reduced to are minimized - just that for the sake of the storyline it is unnecessary to remind the reader of the situation in every other sentence. I refer you to Eleanor Hibbert’s (1906-1993) works; she masterfully managed to show how wrong this was, while at the same time not letting it distract the reader (although such distration would and is fine indeed) too much from the storyline.
So... where was I? Please, if you are interested in historical/Victorian specifically fiction with a little romance mixed in, this is a lovely book. After finishing it I went to amazon right away to look for more “Lady Helena Investigates” books. But no such luck. I will be coming back, though!

2.5 stars; more of a historical slow burn romance than a mystery. I would recommend this book to those who like slow burn romances and historical fiction surrounding English aristocracy; I likely would have enjoyed it a lot more had I not been expecting a murder mystery.

Lady Helena Investigates is a well written tale from the point of view of Helena, an aristocratic widow in 1881 England, shortly after the sudden and seemingly accidental death of her husband Justin. Jane Steen managed to capture the era of writing perfectly and I felt like I was reading a contemporary to Jane Eyre or Little Women, but unfortunately I struggled with this book from the very beginning and this book felt like 391 pages of prologue.

I will admit that a main reason that I did not like this book is that it was something other than I thought it would be. The description made it seem like the death and Fortier's theories of murder would play a larger role but was surprised to find that not to be the case. In fact there are a couple of mysterious deaths and other things that I would have expected Helena to... investigate. Essentially she uncovers the truth about things without any effort whatsoever in a strange deus ex machina fashion, only those revelations do not bring the narrative to a close.

While I know it was true of the period, I was also bothered by Helena's meekness and the fact that her family kind of bulldozed over her. I know that through the course of this book she is coming into herself and learning to stand up for herself, but personally I prefer female characters that are consistently strong and did not see that with Helena. Her brother's meddling and wanting to leverage her wealth for his own gain really just rubbed me the wrong way.

I found this more of a period/historical drama with a slow burn romance being hinted at than a mystery and little character development - the entire book read like a prologue to me, so it is possible that the characters will be fully fleshed out in subsequent books in the series, but I do not think that I will continue with it.

cw: xenophobia, treatment of women as objects/unable to make decisions on their own

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Aspidistra Press, for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This book has a promising plot but unfortunately I did not finish this book: bailed at page 80. I find the language used is somewhat contemporary for a historical fiction. For example, Lady Helena's sister Odelia calls her using the endearing term "Baby". I do not think this happened during that time.

Plain and dull writing with trite phrases made my reading experience not enjoyable at all. I still did not see the mystery element even though I am already at page 80. So far, it has been more of siblings squabbles over Lady Helena's property than solving the mysterious death of Lady Helena's husband, Justin.

Overall, I find the story is somewhat boring and out of focus for a mystery genre. It is not able to hold my interest and I could not connect with any of the characters & there is not one likeable character either.

A very good historical mystery. It's well written and documented and the characters are interesting and well described.
It's not only a mystery but also the story of a woman, Lady Helena, and her path to healing and changing.
I really appreciated the heroine and the cast of characters.
Hope to read soon the next instalment.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Aspidistra Press

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This is a very solid, enjoyable cozy mystery that you can curl up with on a rainy day, and have a nice time

After the death of Lady Helena’s first love, she lost herself and remained desolate until her future-husband managed to draw her out. Now that she is a widow, Lady Helena finds herself stronger than she ever thought.

It is with this strength that she must face her overbearing family, new responsibilities and allegations that her husband’s death was no accident.

Lady Helena Investigates is the first novel in the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries series.

One of the most compelling aspects of Lady Helena Investigates is the overbearing family. Because she is the youngest daughter, her siblings talk down to Helena, try to take her land and bully her into doing things for them. I kept hoping Lady Helena would tell her siblings, and even her lady’s maid, to EAD — but this is why I’m not a member of British aristocracy. Instead, Lady Helena attends to (nearly) all of her familial frustrations with grace and poise.

In terms of plot, the mystery aspect felt like a subplot and the primary purpose of the novel seemed to be introducing the forbidden romance and the characters while ensuring they developed over the course of the given year. This didn’t detract from the quality of the mysteries or the overall plot, but I do look forward to seeing the character embark on more adventurous mysteries in future novels.

There were a couple of threads that were left hanging, which is to be expected for the first novel in a series. Though I have my suspicious on both, I will say no more for fear of spoilers. However, don’t think this finishes all wrapped up in a neat little package.

I liked the pacing of Lady Helena Investigates for a Victorian period novel. It’s not dull but it doesn’t have non-stop action either. It builds up to its peaks and has some unexpected spikes throughout. The story is well written and, while clothing is often mentioned in passing, it doesn’t fall into the trap that some similar novels do — boring the reader with excessive fashion minutiae. Granted, this may not bother some readers and others may thoroughly enjoy hearing about the size buttons on someone’s cuffs, but unless they’re relevant to the plot or skimmed over, I just don’t care. I was glad this wasn’t the case in Lady Helena Investigates.

I enjoyed Lady Helena Investigates far more than I ever thought I would and now eagerly await it’s follow-up. If you enjoy period dramas with an element of mystery to them, then Lady Helena Investigates is a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. Curl up with a pot of tea and some almond biscuits for atmosphere.

For a book with the word investigates in the title, the mystery is not the main storyline in this book! That isn't a bad thing though. This is a story about Lady Helena and her evolution as a woman, as a major life change forces her to face some things that have been following her throughout her life. There are strong female characters, sibling relationships, and light romance which creates a full world to envelope yourself into as the reader.

So many times we see a book about the Victorian era that doesn't ever mention how characters feel about their place in a class or how it impacts their interactions with the world. That is not the case in this novel, we get to see what Helena thinks of her places and how it benefits her as well as how it makes things more complicated. These glimpses are wonderfully done by Jane Steen and made the book a wonderful read for the modern reader to understand the rules of society as they once were.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a story about personal growth, a mystery, and the self-discovery that can come from connecting with a character. By the end of the novel, I truly felt that I knew Lady Helena and my only complaint was that I would have loved an epilogue or a glance into the future to see what some of the characters are up to!

I enjoy discovering new series to read, and think I've run across a good one.  Unfortunately, only the first book has been published, but I'm hoping for more.

A young widow in Victorian England is confronted with the untimely death of her husband and a French doctor who is convinced the death was no accident.  Lady Helena has a meddling family and a tragic history in love, but also possesses a stubborn independence that leads her to investigate her family history.  The sixth of seven children, Helena has the unfortunate nickname "Baby", and is frequently treated as such by her much older siblings.  Helena realizes that, due to her age, she knows little about her parents (her father died when she was 19 and her mother has been slipping into dementia since his death).  As a widow in mourning, her social options are limited, and she begins reading her mother's journals to re-kindle an interest in herbology and to discover her mother.  Of course, some things are better left in the past.

This is a well-written book with engaging characters (though perhaps Helena didn't need quite so many older siblings).  I look forward to the promised future books in the series.

I received access to this book from NetGalley.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

I’ve been nursing a horrible cold this week, so I spent as much time as I could under a blanket, reading. I just finished Lady Helena Investigates by Jane Steen. (Book one of a new series.)

A cozy historical mystery, the novel’s protagonist is Lady Helena, a young woman newly widowed. Her unfortunate husband, Justin, was a gentleman farmer many years her elder. Their marriage had been a happy one, and Helena is stunned and grieving. Justin died by drowning, trying to save a ram that had fallen into a river. At least, that’s the theory.

Helena is the youngest daughter in a large aristocratic family. Very large. It’s a bit difficult keeping them all straight in the opening chapters, but things fall into place fairly quickly. The main thing is that Helena is stronger in spirit than her older sisters and overbearing brother, the Earl of Broadmere, credit her with being. Although everyone has their opinion on what she should do next, she has her own ideas and searching for a replacement husband is not one of them.

With enough to do fending off her probably well-meaning but intrusive family, Helena is not particularly pleased when her husband’s physician, Armand Fortier, an attractive, self-assured Frenchman, presents himself at her door. After offering condolences, he states the real reason for his call. He believes Justin was murdered.

Helena doesn’t want to believe this and so, for a time, she simply doesn’t.

The novel does not proceed as a usual mystery. It’s more of a gentle family saga, with Helena trying to piece her life back together. In her youth, Helena had an interest in following in her mother’s footsteps as an herbalist and healer. But she lost interest when her first fiancé, her cousin Daniel, died unexpectedly. Helena’s mother is now suffering from dementia, and Helena regrets the lost opportunity to learn from her. But she does have all her mother’s old journals. Reading through them, Helena learns a great deal about the woman her mother once was. But unearthing the past leads to shocking, painful truths about her family.

There’s a lot packed into the story–maybe a little too much. A lot of human foibles are crammed in as well as the usual suspects of sin and evil. But the main characters are thoughtful, caring people so I’d be glad to read more about them in book two. The budding romance with its hint of mystery is another reason to look forward to seeing them again.

This book was very slow. It never gained momentum. I barely finished book.

This book is well written and a bit too historically accurate. Lady Helena Whitcombe is at times scholarly and interesting, but also too concerned with pleasing her family and gossip. She bears the grief of her husband by throwing herself into finding the girl she lost to grief of an earlier beau. She tries to become a herbalist like her mother and she also finds herself solving mysteries that she denied were there only moments before. This book is enjoyable, but my hope for future additions to this series is that Lady Helena finds herself and becomes less wishy washy.

What a fun and satisfying read! Though the plot abounds with tragedy, strong and entertaining characters glide in and out of an interesting time in England, when roles for servants and nobility, and even husbands and wives are evolving. The mysteries take a backseat to the characterizations of family and societal interactions.