This is a murder mystery set in 1890 and is the first book in the A Victorian Book Club Mystery series by Callie Hutton. The main character, Lady Amy Lovell, is an author of mystery novels and her father, who disapproves of this, gets her to agree to write under a pseudonym. In addition, she belongs to a reading club that specializes in murder mysteries. She is also the prime suspect in the murder of her ex-fiancé since he ended up dead in her library.

At the start, the police seem too eager to convict Amy which gives Amy the motivation she needs to look into the murder and find the killer herself. With the help of her friend, Lord William Wethington, they dig into her s life and come up with a list of suspects with possible motives.

Things I liked: Amy’s constant reminding everyone that the victim is her ex-fiancé – and then everyone saying to her at the end! Laughed so hard at that one. Though I don’t normally read many historicals, I found myself intrigued by this one from the start. Amy is a young woman of society, gently reared, and yet… she not only writes murder mysteries, but solves them herself. I also loved Lord Wethington! He not only supports her, but does so with a sense of humor. And the last line in the book lets you know that Amy and the lord are not done with murders. The ending was satisfying and made sense with the clues given.

Things I didn’t like: In all their digging, did the police never find out that Amy was a murder mystery writer? That seemed a bit odd as it would have given them even more reason to suspect her.

Recommendation: I would definitely recommend this, not just to those who like historical mysteries, but as a crossover for both genres. The society details were well done as well as the mystery. A nice blend of both leading to a satisfying ending and a nice beginning of a new series.

Thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and the author, Callie Hutton, for this ARC that I received in return for an honest review. Expected Publication date: 12 May 2020

What a wonderful start to a new series! Set in England in the 1890's, this slightly historic mystery is a delight. The protagonist, Lady Amy is a woman ahead of her time and has a knack for solving mysteries. In this case, finding out who the true murderer is to save herself. When her former fiancé is murdered in her home, she and her cohorts from a book club band together to save Lady Amy from the hangman's noose. I cannot wait for more adventures of Lady Amy and her pals. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

This novel is to be enjoyed as an amateur sleuth, and your task as a reader is to unravel the clues about the murderer. Las ! Careful ! Red herrings alert ! So, definitely, this ends up in reading the book almost non stop, you just want to check if your own deductions are correct. Mrs Hutton certainly had a lot of fun creating and imagining (or so ?) the main activity of the heroine. You'll be surprised, it might not be what you expected. There are numerous references to Sherlock Holmes, and you shall see why.
Apart from the detective story, the setting of the book happens end of the 19th century England. Don't expect a historic novel, and be prepared to accept some modern manerism. Why not ? After all, we have many clichés about the Victorians, it is nice to be challenged.
For all these reasons, I will recommend this book.

When Lady Amy finds her former fiance dead in the library, she has no idea why he was even present, much less who could have done away with him. And when the police show up, they don't help matters when they immediately identify Lady Amy as the one and only suspect. Seeing that they have absolutely no interest in pursuing other explanations, Lady Amy decides to investigate on her own, with the aid of her friend (just a friend, as she protests too much) William.

This was a decent cozy mystery and I enjoyed the interaction between Amy and William, but I think the writing would have been more at home in a contemporary setting. Some of it doesn't read quite right for being placed in the Victorian era.

This is a fantastic first book in a new series! The author has done a great job building this Victorian era setting, and the dialogue was wonderful. I absolutely loved the characters, the slow build of romance between two of the main characters was simply lovely, and I honestly cannot wait to read the next installment!

How dare Mr. St. Vincent come uninvited to Lady Amy Lovell’s house and be murdered in her library? It’s been just two days since she broke their engagement, and the police suspect she’s the murderer.
Lady Amy leads a secret life as the mystery writer E. D. Burton, and she knows how to conduct an investigation. Probably better than those two detectives who don’t seem capable of finding other suspects. She enlists the help of Lord Wethington, who has always seemed a nice, agreeable man, even though he too is afflicted with the idea that gently reared young ladies have weak sensibilities and shouldn’t be exposed to the unpleasant of murder.
Strange things happen. An investigator hired by her father becomes ill. Lord Wethington’s carriage wheel is sabotaged. Mr. St. Vincent’s nephew proposes to Lady Amy. The police aren’t the only ones who want her to stay out of their business.
A light-hearted who-dun-it set in 1890 Bath, England.

Set in 1890, Bath England, Lady Amy Lovell, who writes mystery novels under a pseudonym, is the primary suspect in the murder of her former fiancé. The murder takes place in the library of her Manor home a few days after she breaks off their engagement.

The story unfolds with Lady Amy joining forces with a friend from her Book Club, Lord William Wethington, because she fears the Police are not doing enough to broaden the search for the killer. As their friendship builds, there is an undercurrent of romance between Lady Amy and Lord Wetherington.

Together they leverage Amy’s research skills as a writer and build a list of suspects. They begin to methodically and logically gather evidence to find the real killer.

Surprise ending with the real killer hiding in plain sight.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
#Netgalley
#AStudyinMurder

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

A good, enjoyable cozy mystery. Set in 1890, mystery writer Lady Amy Lowell loves reading and writing mysteries, she even has a book club for it. But when her “ex” fiance is murdered in her library, she tries to solve it before the police. She gets help from William, who is a member of the same book club. It’s a good mystery, I guessed the killer towards the end. I liked the concept and characters. I’d like to read the next one, espicially want to read about the affair between the hero and the heroine.

I loved reading this book. The characters are so delightful. I will miss them. The dialogue is so very agreeable. I so enjoyed the prim language, it was refreshing and funny! I am happy to learn that the cliffhanger at the end could translate into another novel by this talented author. Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane books, for the opportunity to read and review A Study in Murder by Callie Hutton. This book is set in Victorian England and follows Lady Amy as she attempts to solve the murder of her ex-fiance and prove her innocence.
The book is rather predictable, as cozy mysteries often are. But the characters are likable, not trite, and the traces of humor are well suited and not silly. The setting is lovely and takes us to Jane Austen's world of Bath, England. The traditions, costumes and language appear to be consistent with the times.
Altogether, this was a fun read. The cliffhanger at the end implies a book to follow, and I shall look forward to reading that one as well.

This was an enjoyable read, as a cozy mystery with a host of interesting characters. I definitely would recommend this book and I look forward to reading more from this author. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

I went into this without reading too much of the synopsis. I knew I wanted a cosy murder mystery and you can easily pick those by the covers. This novel was such a delight! It was like reading a Poirot or Murder, She Wrote. Everything wrapped up so nice and neat at the end, and throughout the novel there were really lovely, slightly romantic and humourous instances. I think I'd easily continue on with this series.

Let me first thank NetGalley for a free advance copy of this book i exchange for an honest review. I had never heard of this author until I got this book, a book that is completely different from her prior works, and for me a much more enjoyable genre and style of writing. We follow the exploits of Lady Amy Lovell (who is secretly a murder mystery writer) and Lord William Wethington, her friend. The writing is a good blend of both dialogue and prose, and characters are well developed both on the lead character and minor character level. Lady Amy is under suspicion of the murder of her fiance (ex-fiance) who she found in her library with a knife in his chest! She decides to try and find out the killer because the police are sort of convinced she us the murderess. All of this takes place in the town of Bath, England, which also gets very good descriptive development both in terms of the town and high society. We have a dead shipping magnate, opium addicts, a feminist Lady Amy, a charming relationship between Lady Amy and Lord William. Why not 5 stars? Well, sometimes the dialogue got a bit preachy about feminism and the plight of women (more so Lady Amy than women in general), and while it did not distract from the book I felt it continued much longer than necessary - the author made her point very well early in the book. The plot was great, and the murderer a real surprise. A very good effort and he books is nicely set up for Book 2 in the Epilogue.

A Study In Murder has everything I love in a mystery - an independent, smart and colorful main character, supporting characters who are interesting and well-written and touch of romance that enhances rather than overwhelms the storyline.

Lady Amy, the main character, is unique in that along with all of her social obligations as an upper class young woman of the time, she is also the famous mystery writer, E.D. Burton. Due to her father's wishes, she has kept this secret from all but a very few. When she is accused of murdering her ex-fiance, the investigative skills she's learned, through research for her novels, is put to practical use to keep her out of jail and to solve the crime. The characters are wonderfully written and the Victorian era setting, in the town of Bath, is charming.

The relationship between her rebellious Aunt Margaret and the developing friendship with her crime solving partner Lord Wenthington adds to the book.

I wasn't sure if I would like a Victorian "period" mystery but this book has me wanting more! I am impatiently waiting for the next book!

I received an ARC from NetGalley for a fair and honest review of this book.

This is the first book in the series set in 1890 Bath. It centers around Lady Amy Lowell who also has a mostly anonymous career as a murder mystery writer. The mystety in this is the murder of Amy's ex-fiancé who had made a number of enemies due to the opium trade, with Amy being the only suspect initially.

Overall, I really liked this story. Amy was a great character, persistent and resilient in her own investigation to clear her name. William was an enjoyable character as well, even though I'm still not completely sold on his and Amy's chemistry as a romantic pairing. The actual mystery and red herrings and pieces of information learned as they were investigating was well done. I do as a whole like cozies and historical mysteries with amateur sleuths, but in this case my only complaint is that I did think the personalities of the detectives were heavy-handed. I think my favorite character was actually Amy's Aunt Margaret.

This actually read like a cozy mystery with a realistic description of late Victorian era ways of life. I'll be watching for the next book in the series for sure.

A Study in Murder is a murder mystery set in 1890 and is the first book in the A Victorian Book Club Mystery series by Callie Hutton. The main character, Lady Amy Lovell, is an author of mystery novels and her father, who disapproves of this, gets her to agree to write under a pseudonym. She is also the prime suspect in the murder of her ex-fiancé because the police jump to conclusions faster than The Flash can run.

The story is fast-paced and at times, engrossing. That being said, I did roll my eyes at the narrative of the police being inefficient. To quote, "(The police) are conducting this investigation with horse blinders on. They refuse to see anyone except you." At the start, the police seem hell-bent to indict Amy which is frustrating. It gives Amy all the motivation she needs and she decides to look into the murder and find the killer herself. So begins Amy's investigation with the help of Lord William Wethington, a fellow book club member. They dig into her ex-fiancé's life and come up with a list of suspects.

I have to admit that as the suspect list grew, the story got increasingly interesting and I started to enjoy it more than I expected to. The uncovering of clues and surprising revelations kept me hooked towards the end.

Another thing I liked about this book was Amy's steadfastness when it came to women's rights and the principle that women and men are equal. The author offers a glimpse into the patriarchy of the 19th century that Amy, fortunately, has no patience for.

The epilogue ends with a cliffhanger which I assume is laying the foundation for the next novel. Even though I enjoyed parts of this one, I can't say that I look forward to the books that will follow in the series.

[I'd like to thank Crooked Lane Books and the author Callie Hutton for this ARC. Publication date: 12 May 2020.]