WOW! This book is PHENOMENAL! It is interesting, gripping, romantic, witty, amazing, intriguing, and so much more! Whenever I picked up "A Most Intriguing Lady", I was whisked back in time to the Victorian Era, and went on such an emotional journey with this story.

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, is such an incredible author! Her writing style and storytelling is engaging, hooks you from the very first page to the last, and I felt completely immersed in the world of her novel. I instantly was pulling for Lady Mary and Walter to find happiness, and each and every character throughout this book jumps right off of the page. Furthermore, each piece of the puzzle falls into place in exactly the moment it needs to in order to push the plot forward, and I simply could not put this book down!

Lady Mary and Walter (also called Tre) truly bring out the best in one another. They understand each other on a deep emotional level, and support one another in such a beautiful way. I would absolutely love to see their story continue, and I hope to see them again in future books!

If you enjoy Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, and / or Historical Mystery, I HIGHLY recommend this book! I so look forward to reading what Sarah Ferguson writes next!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC of this book, and to Avon for the beautiful finished copy as well! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A Most Intriguing Lady starts quickly by revealing two intriguing characters. Lady Mary, a young woman who prefers to keep to her quiet ways, enters the story by performing a balance beam act on the castle parapet. She is seen only by Colonel Trefusis, whose past will not leave him alone. Both are very likable characters, looking for their place in life.

Mary is observant, discrete, quiet and often overlooked by her family and everyone around her. Which makes her the perfect person to solve a domestic mystery, with some assistance from Trefusis.

After solving one mystery, Mary’s services are in demand, keeping her busy and giving her purpose. Meanwhile, Trefusis has his own secret mission which keeps him away from Mary. The two part, meet again, and learn more about each other as they solve more mysteries and then part again. They cycle continues, keeping the two apart, while at the same time bringing them closer together.

This book is a romance, which means that someday, somehow, Mary and Trefusis are bound to get together. But this long term, slow burn courtship is doomed to failure until they both grow enough to find a clear give-and-take path that leads to their happily ever after. I found their steadfastly growing relationship to be quite refreshing. The added mysteries strengthened the characters and the plot, and made for a very satisfying story!

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book. My review is my honest opinion.

A MOST INTRIGUING LADY by Sarah Ferguson is surprisingly entertaining historical fiction combined with a series of mysteries. Set in Victorian England (spanning five years in the 1870s) and featuring Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott, the novel crafts a fictional account of one of the Duchess of York's relatives. As the author's note explains, little besides the dates of her birth and marriage are known about Lady Mary, but that allows the Duchess and her co-author, Marguerite Kaye, to offer a story with a strong mix of suspense and romance involving a young woman feeling constrained by society's expectations and determined to find and follow a purpose. She is attracted to Colonel Walter Trefusis who helps in her endeavors despite his own battles with PTSD-like symptoms. Filled with rich description of shooting parties, estate life above and below stairs, and potentially dangerous espionage, A MOST INTRIGUING LADY received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. This new title can be read as a standalone, although the authors previously collaborated on a companion story: Her Heart for a Compass.
Not directly relevant, but I had to at least mention the Budgie books also written by Sarah Ferguson – intended for children and published in 1989 about a helicopter named Budgie; we still have our copies of those fun adventures!

Writing: 3.5/5 Plot: 4.5/5 Characters: 4.5/5

Not at all my typical read but I confess I did find it entertaining. A “Novel of the Victorian era,” it reads like a (much) steamier Jane Austen style novel (and yes, I know that Austen was Georgian period, not Victorian, but it still has lifestyle similarities in my mind). In Ferguson’s novel, there is a stronger (and more interesting) theme of well-born women wanting more from their life than obedience to husband, mother to children, and gardening. They want to be useful. At least our heroine, Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott, daughter of Queen Victoria’s good friends, the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, wants that and wants it very much indeed. Intelligent and determined, she becomes a kind of (unpaid) lady detective, focussing on issues that call for a knowledge of society and utter discretion. There is also a non-traditional romance fluttering through the pages as Lady Mary struggles to integrate her strong attraction (both physical and mental) to a Darcy-style Colonel Trefusis with her desires to have a full life that does not involve subservience to another being.

Most of the characters in the novel were real people and the authors (in small print it does say “with Marguerite Kaye”) go into the historical detail about their real lives as well as the history of women detectives which I found quite interesting. One expects that by her rank and previous membership in the Royal Family, Ferguson has a kind of “in” when it comes to the kind of house parties, hunts, and what not that populate a novel of this sort. I can’t verify any of it but I enjoyed reading it and am now extra thankful that a) I live in an era where being a woman did not limit me in any way and b) that I do not ever have to attend any of what appears to be the most tedious gatherings on Earth!

I enjoyed the more modern take on an historic period. While the time period is not necessarily known (to me) for women empowerment or feminist leanings, Lady Mary’s feelings and worries did not feel at all anachronistic, and I could readily identify with her. I liked the balance between the description of time and place, the types of mysteries, the romance, and Lady Mary’s inner thoughts and motivations. Again, not my typical book but I did quite enjoy it!

An interesting look into the lives of Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott, youngest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Colonel Trefusis. I believe this is a companion book to "Her Heart as a Compass" from some of the allusions made in the text, but it read really well as a stand-alone novel The writing was descriptive and evocative of the places described, and the time period (late Victorian) in general. This is definitely not a biography, but rather an entertaining "what if" imagining involving real people. Enjoyable and well-written, a great pick for historical fiction fans, with a side of romance.