Callie Hutton writes a great mystery story! Amy (great name for a heroine by the way) is trying to clear her name in the murder of her ex fiancé. Her friend Lord William helps her in the investigation. We see their friendship grow closer and hopefully we will see more of that in the next book in this Victorian Mystery series. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

Even though what I’ll describe as Regency or Victorian times is not my favorite period setting, this was an easy and enjoyable read. It had all those rules of having a chaperone present, losing one’s reputation for not wearing gloves and...it had a sassy female. Wait, maybe that’s what I identified with :) .

The characters here were well-defined but one of the aspects I really enjoyed was that it wasn’t just the main characters. It seemed as if Callie Hutton made me able to see so many of them...strong, loving and occasionally grumpy Aunt Margaret, nosy Mrs. Ambrose, handsome Lord Wetherington, dastardly Mr. St. Vincent, Amy’s ex-fiancé. Even the Lovell house cook. The author did another thing really, really well. She had me guessing about and suspecting everyone til the very end.

Speaking of this author, she writes a good deal what is not my favorite genre, romance, regardless of the time period. Yet, she made this such a good mix of mystery, a little sweetness and a little murder. Everything a good mystery needs. Hope she’s writing the next book in this series.

In looking online I found Callie Hutton also has many other books published and I couldn’t find anything but good reviews.

This is an interesting story, det in a Victorian Bath that just doesn't feel right. I found myself looking up things that were stated as fact - like when the Bath Lower Assembly Hall was built - and whether mystery writers of the period actually called themselves mystery/detective story writers.

A good story though.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read an advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

What an amazing start to a very promising series! I loved the main character and fell in love with her life and the town itself. I can’t wait to read more in this series

This is the first in a new series Victorian Book Club Mystery. Lady Amy Lovell is a Victorian lady who is 25 years old and resides in Bath with her Aunt Margaret. She is engaged to a Mr. St. Vincent and she has felt pushed into this engagement from her Father. She attends a weekly book club that discusses mystery book such as Sherlock Holmes. She is intelligent and is also a mystery writer writing under a pseudonym because she is a woman. Another gentlemen Lord William is going to let Lady Amy borrow a book on unsolved mysteries and plans to deliver the following week. She has been thinking about getting out of the engagement when an anonymous letter arrives indicating her fiancé is selling opium. Lady Amy summons St. Vincent and breaks her engagement. He is angry and vows she will regret this. The following week as Lady Amy is expecting Lord William she is told Mr. St. Vincent has arrived so she ask that he be put in the library and advises them to put Lord William in the drawing room. Lady Amy goes to see Mr. St. Vincent but he is not there and she sees the doors to the garden open so she goes outside to see if he is there but she still cannot find him until she comes in and stumbles over his dead body. As she is screaming Lord William and her servants arrive. The police come and Lady Amy becomes the prime suspect. Her Father must come down from London along with a barrister. The police are rude to the “toffs” as they call the aristocracy and believe Lady Amy is the guilty party. Lady Amy plans to investigate herself and convinces Lord William to help. He is shocked to learn she is the author E.D. Burton whose novels they have read in the book group. He begrudgingly agrees to help. Of course you sense the attraction between the two. Lady Amy does let her Aunt Margaret know what she is about as well as her best friend Eloise. This was a good mystery and I did not know who the guilty party was and I was shocked. It is also a little frustrating to watch how long it takes to solve in part because of the societal conventions of the times. I have not read many books from this time period and was interesting to learn about Bath as well. Will definitely want to the read the next in the series.

I liked this! I don't often read historical cozy mysteries but was interested in trying this one due to the fact that it featured a Victoria book club and a female mystery writer. I liked the time period and all the little details about life and dress during the era. Lady Amy was a great heroine and I liked the relationship between her and Lord Wethington. A bit slow at times but this was an overall fun read with a mystery that had a pretty good twist. I would probably read the next instalment.

This book made for some nice quarantine reading: it's fairly lighthearted for a mystery. I always try to guess the culprit as I read, and in this case, I guessed the killer at about 70% through, though I wasn't *quite* sure. There are some anachronisms in both the language and social customs, but the characters are likable and intriguing enough to make me want to read another book in the series.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of my unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this cozy. It is a mixture of Anne Perry and her Victorian mysteries but lighter like Ellery Adams or Kate Collins. So fun. Lady Amy Lovell has just kicked her crooked fiance to the curb. Shortly thereafter, he turns up dead in her home! This is 1890 and Ladies don't write murder mysteries nor do they solve them, but this one does. The constables believe she killed her ex-fiance, but there are many more suspects. With the help of her friend Lord William Wethington they set out to prove her innocence. Lots of suspects along with some red herrings make this a throughly enjoyable read. It kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next.

A charming period piece mystery murder.
Set in 1890s Bath England, Lady Amy is an author writing popular murder mysteries under a nom de plum. She tries to keep this identity secret from all but her inner circle because it isn't proper for a lady of her station.

Then someone is murdered in her library and she needs to use all the facts and scenarios she's studied in her research to clear her own name. It's so fun to go back in time to when murders needed to be solved without DNA testing and video footage or cellphone tracking to find a killer.

I'd definitely read another book in this series.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.*

I thoroughly enjoyed the start of this new mystery series! I especially liked the Victorian setting, the protagonist of Amy Lowell, and the well-told cozy mystery. Recommended for fans of historical mysteries!

I enjoyed this book. I’m a big fan of historical fiction and cozy mysteries, so this was a perfect mix. The only thing that bothered me was the extremes of Lady Amy’s personality. She is portrayed as a strong woman, bending historical norms for women of the time. Yet, she swoons like a delicate flower at the first sign of trouble, then proceeds to involve herself in the murder investigation. One moment she is a woman who has no problem researching gruesome murders to help her write her books or she’s a “delicately reared young woman” that swoons at the sight of a body. The difference is too drastic. I do look forward to reading the next book in the series to see if her character evens out.

A Study in Murder by Callie Hutton is about a mystery author charged with murder. The story takes place in the late 1880’s in England. Mystery author Lady Amy Lovell receives a letter that her fiancée is involved with something nefarious. She breaks the engagement. Two days later, her fiancée returns to her house. She sends him to the library while she waits for another man from the mystery club to arrive. When she returns to the library, she finds him dead. As a suspect, she must launch her own investigation with her murder club. This was an excellent book. Throughout the plot, they drank plenty of tea. Wherever they went. A cozy historical mystery. There were many suspects and clues and the plot was well done. Amy needed to solve the mystery before she was arrested with help from her friend, Lord William. Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced readers copy of this book for review.

This would have been a good Cozy mystery except for the proofreading errors. As a purist, the wording used distracted me from an enjoyable, witty mystery, part Romance, don't get excited, it is extremely disappointing in that area. The wording would not have been used during the Victorian Era, nor would Lady Amy be going around Bath without a companion, or a lady's maid with a single man! All of these things added to my irritation with the proofreaders, and the reading became a distraction instead of getting lost in the story, I became bogged down with the mistakes. What a shame, because I love this time period, I love Mysteries with a Romance, it would have ticked all of my boxes!
Thank you,
carolintallahassee.com

Shortly after breaking off her engagement in arranged marriage contract, Lady Amy Lovell of Bath, England, decides to allow her former fiancé to visit. When she reluctantly goes to receive him, she trips over his murdered body. She and Lord Wethington, who is also in the home, are questioned by the police and Lady Amy is their prime suspect. They belong to a mystery book club and decide to do their own investigation before she finds herself imprisoned for the rest of her life.

While the book started a bit slowly for me and I was tempted to put it down, I am so glad I didn't. The story picked up and the pace continued nicely, along with a plot filled with twists and turns. Lady Amy seems surprised that opium addiction has affected the upper classes-her own peers, something that we are currently experiencing today. Lord Wethington gently tells her that addiction affects all types of people, no matter their status.

Lady Amy's character is intriguing and complex--a great start for a new series. She defies the norm of her time in some ways but still enjoys the privilege her family wealth and title affords. Her alter-ego, the prominent mystery writer E.D. Burton, provides for future plot and character development as well as her changing relationship with Lord Wethingon. I'll be looking forward to reading the next installment in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC. My review is voluntary.

A nice twist on the cozy mystery genre. By having this set in the 1800s, this book balances a murder involving a feminist mystery writer, all while trying to manage expectations of those around her. I liked the build up to the list of potential suspects, and the author does a good job of building up each suspect until the ending, where a nice little twist is thrown at you. And the relation between Amy, Aunt Margaret and Lord Wetherington were sweet and charming.

This book was okay. I wish it had more to it, but even I got bored while finishing it. I was hoping the end would be interesting, but it wasn't. It was one of those, "it's just okay" books. I will admit it did a good job with giving the characters, well, a character. I understood their motivation perfectly. The murder was one of the best parts, since it was hard to figure out. This book did a good job of that. Despite this book being long-winded at times, I look forward to the next one. The characters make the journey worthwhile, despite it being a little dragged out.

The main character Amy Lovell, is a secret murder mystery writer in Bath and her father disapproves of this but allows her to do this. He attempts to finally marry her off, and her fiance is mysteriously murdered. Now she is the center of the policeman's case, and must find the murderer since she is believed to have done it. For those who love cozy mysteries, this a must for you.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy!

A Study In Murder by Callie Hutton is an excellent read. A historical set outside London that focuses more on complex storyline and a wide cast of characters. Also provides a unique insight into the frustrations of an intelligent woman in a time controlled by men. This is a delightful read.

Lady Amy, who is secretly a successful mystery writer loves to attend her weekly book group and talk about the latest mysteries with her friend Lord William. Amy has been set up in an engagement with Mr. Ronald St. Vincent but after she ends the engagement they find him dead in her library. She then has to use her mystery-writing skills to find St. Vincent's murderer before the police decide it was her. I enjoyed this Victorian mystery and the team of Lady Amy and Lord William. The plot moved along and the characters were interesting and propelled the story forward. Lady Amy had plenty of obstacles as she attempted to be a moving force in a society that does not yet value women’s involvement in such matters. This is a fun historical mystery with a nice touch of romance.

I obtained this book from Net Galley and have left an honest review.

4★

This highly enjoyable cosy mystery is a great introduction to a new series. A total page turner, with delightful characters,this novel will keep readers guessing until the end.

Unfortunately, I was unable to read this title before it expired. The cover and premise are intriguing, so I will definitely seek out a published copy.