I knew I was in trouble from the first couple of chapters when nothing grabbed me. I switched to the audiobook, hoping it might redeem the experience, but instead it became white noise. This one was background static with delusions of more.


Set in 1890, the book attempts to captivate the reader with a high-society mystery aboard an impossibly massive airship, but the atmosphere feels cardboard and cut-and-paste. It has been arranged that American heiress Cora Beaumont is to marry the son of a Duke, in thanks for some favor her father once arranged for getting the duke out of sticky situations. Predictably, she’s engaged to the unremarkable “spare,” Terrance, while the elder brother Nicholas slides into the brooding helper role and the obvious love interest slot. It’s paint-by-numbers romantic plotting.


The tone flip-flops at every turn. Cora is treated like a disposable ornament in one chapter, then suddenly equals the aristocratic men in the next, as if historical constraints and character consistency just weren’t worth editing for. The period language reads more like checked boxes, while modern vocabulary sneaks in, throwing off the immersion entirely.


Comparisons to Deanna Raybourn and Agatha Christie? Please. That’s wishful thinking. The mystery isn’t compelling, the twists come too late to matter, and by the time the “big reveal” happens, I’d already stopped caring. The writing felt clunky, overstated, and desperate to be clever. Honestly, this needed a ruthless red pen and some tough talk.

'1890. American heiress, Cora Beaumont is celebrating her engagement to Terrance Tristan, the second son of a duke. Their union will solidify Cora's place in British society and put her in a rare position of power, but as they embark on the Lady Air’s maiden voyage to England, Cora soon finds that not everyone in society is accepting of her recent engagement, and tensions fly as high as the airship. When a body is discovered the first night on the ship, with a calling card for Cora on the victim, she’s determined to find the killer hidden among the passengers before they come for her next. '

And so this blurb grabbed my attention and I couldn't wait to get reading. And what a read it was. I loved the characters and they way they are portrayed, the writing makes it so easy to read but has the depth and suspense you want from a book of this genre. It is a fun book, there is some romance and also plenty of mystery and suspense. The adventure that Cora and Nicholas are on adds an air of excitement and the whole story just took me on a journey and I didn't want it to end. A book that would be the beginning of a great series. Fingers crossed.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Cora Beaumont is setting off on the maiden voyage of the airship Lady Air, the largest ever made by her father's company with her fiancé Terrance Tristan, who is the younger son of a Duke. The voyage is supposed to be a way for her and Terrance to get to know each other better, however, the very first night on the ship Cora finds herself in middle of a murder investigation with Terrance's older brother Nicholas and as the bodies keep piling up Cora and Nicholas find that even in the middle of a serial killers spree that maybe Cora is marrying the wrong Tristan.

When I've had a bad week murder mysteries are my go-to for reading and in all honesty, the more tropes the better and in terms of the romance A Lethal Engagement couldn't have been a better choice. While Nicholas and Cora come across as very cookie-cutter characters at the beginning of the book as the story progresses. The evolution of their relationship was, I found, to be completely natural as they moved from partners to friends, to finally something a bit more. Their interactions especially felt simply normal. There are never any flirtations that seem contrived and while there are more than a few instances where they find themselves forced into close proximity (there is one memorable scene involving a cape) I found I couldn't care less if those scenes were a bit obvious. Skelly had already established a relationship built on mutual respect and an undeniable chemistry so those scenes felt less contrived than they might have. It doesn't hurt that they are both wonderful characters either!

Side characters were wonderful as well, especially Phee, she was absolutely adorable and may we all have besties like her!

The mystery itself was interesting as well. Sometime around the halfway point, I began suspecting the person who ends up being the killer but honestly, there were so many red herrings that I wouldn't have said with 100% certainty that they were the killer until it was revealed.

I genuinely hope that this ends up being a series because I'd love to continue to see how Cora's life unfolds!

As always thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the eArc!

This a fun mystery-romance set on board an airship’s maiden voyage, which feels more steampunk fiction than Victorian historical fiction, as the author plays a little fast and loose with the technology actually possible at the time.

This didn’t detract from the pleasure of the story for me at all (although it might bother hist-fic purists!), as the main enjoyment for me was the chemistry between the main characters, Cora and Nicholas and the loyal, irrepressible Phee. And the murder mystery adds the needed excitement and suspense to their adventures.

I found the whole book entertaining and highly readable – I whipped through it quicker than expected and was keen to read on immediately – so I would definitely read more from April J. Skelly (and hopefully Cora and Nicholas!) in future. I do love a bit of humour and romance in my mysteries!

This was quite cute and fun especially because it was a historical romance with a mystery set on an AIRship! The the setting felt so unique. I will say it did feel a touch slow and drawn out at times.

The romance is is definitely a very small side part. I wish it had been a bit bigger. I did like that it was a sweet slowburn. I could have done with more magical moments between them. But I liked how they worked together to solve the mysteries going on. They were very cute together.

The end also felt wrapped up a little too quick. I wanted more, maybe an epilogue. Overall tho, I really enjoyed reading this and felt it was unique feeling with the mystery, regency and setting.

Cora is a standout heroine…clever, brave, and gracefully feminine. Her deep connection to the airship she helped design not only made the story more engaging but also gave her believable agency in a restrictive world. Her resolve to see The Lady Air’s first voyage through and face every setback head-on made her easy to admire.

Nicholas’s instinct to protect Cora from danger and from society’s judgment, made him instantly likable. His loyalty, especially when others abandoned her, made him a perfect hero. Combined with a chilling mystery, these characters kept me invested from start to finish.

The recurring spelling errors…like using “Cretan” instead of “cretin” amongst other misspellings…was disappointing, especially in a professionally published book.

A locked-room mystery with added romance, this was a suspenseful, fast read.

Cora Beaumont's father is dead and she is marrying the second son of a duke, which will ensure her control over her inheritance: primarily, the luxury, transoceanic airship Lady Air. Unfortunately, someone is murdered on its maiden voyage and Cora is desperate to solve the mystery to ensure her airship enterprise doesn't (metaphorically) crash and burn before it's even started. Her fiance is a useless lump, but his elder brother Nicholas agrees to help her for his own reasons. Inevitably, romantic sparks fly as they unravel the secrets of their fellow passengers and race to discover the killer before the killer gets to them first.

✨ Publication date: April 22, 2025✨

A Lethal Engagement is a historical mystery romance set in the Victorian era on one the first air ships travelling from the US to England.

Cora Beaumont begins her journey on her father’s air ship newly engaged to her late father’s business partners son. Terrance Tristan is her betrothed and although Cora’s dowry is substantial, but the air ship company belongs to her even once she’s married.

Cora is determined to reacquaint herself with Terrance and his brother Duke Nicholas Tristan throughout the trip. The problem is, Terrence is constantly disappearing and Nicholas and Cora get pulled into a murder investigation when a body is found on the air ship.

As Nicholas and Cora spend more time together their connection deepens as more bodies turn up. They are desperate to solve the mystery behind the murders before the airship lands and the passengers realize what’s been happening behind closed doors.

I really liked this book and the authors writing. I think it’s the first in a new series and I am definitely looking forward to more instalments of Cora and Nicholas! This is a 4 star read for me.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#NetGalley #apriljskelly #lethalengagement.

Lighthearted historical mystery romance, the ultimate whodunnit done in the air! nobody can escape the crime scene. Banter and meet-cute, perfect summer read.

I had fun and enjoyed it. A good historical cozy featuring likeable characters, a well plotted mystery and a vivid background
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A Lethal Engagement by April J. Skelly features Cora Beaumont sailing with her intended, Terrance Tristan, as well as his brother Nicholas and their cousin Ophelia “Phee” Davenport upon the airship that is her inheritance, the Lady Air. It’s obviously a steampunk type novel in that respect, set in the late Victorian era, and it is a dual murder mystery/romance. A woman turns up dead, slashed up with the letter C carved into her torso, and both Nicholas and Cora saw her before her death. Nicholas spotted her when she was railing with a crew member, trying to spread her suffragist leanings, and Cora spied her DIRECTLY at her death, either just before, just during, or after. Cora and Nicholas team up to solve the murder to keep Cora’s reputation intact.

I think this book is more of a romance novel than a mystery, but it isn’t spicy and, given the very short time allotted to it (the span of a voyage across the sea by air) the romance develops quickly. The mystery isn’t solved by either of them; the murderer does a spiel on why they did it and then promptly tries to continue killing. It’s so irksome because they focused on ONE PERSON almost the entirety of the book (86% in we get a new suspect). There weren’t really any other suspects until the very end EVEN THOUGH Cora originally saw the woman on a small man’s lap and then she turned up dead immediately. That would be MY first suspect. The person they went after didn’t even fit the profile or limited clues they had at all except he may have been roaming the airship at the time of the murder. It prejudiced Cora and Nicholas to him and they spent all their time—to borrow a thought from Sherlock Holmes—twisting facts to suit theories rather than theories to suit facts. It’s just hypocritical, too, that they’re all in on trying to find fault with the man while running around together and getting closer—unchaperoned—all in the name of solving a murder!

I’m not sure if the author intends for there to be more books in this vein, but I would be willing to try a second one. I love a supportive man in fiction.

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

My reading list is virtually all fiction but diverse. Sometimes, when the reading has been heavy or I'm working flat out every day or life is stressful somehow, I need cotton candy. But just because I need cotton candy does not mean it's okay for the writing or plot or characters to be subpar. It must be an easy read and entertaining and not very serious. It's 1890. We have a wealthy heiress from the US, who owns a commercial airship (zeppelin style, I think) that has 3 classes of passengers, a theater troupe, and impeccable staff. Cora's deceased father and a Duke agreed when she was a child that she would be betrothed to Terrance Tristan, the Duke's second son. She knew the brothers, Nicholas and Terrance as children but has not met them as adults until now. She is officially engaged and wearing the ring. Along with loads of passengers, they are on the maiden flight with lots of very proper very snobby upperclass British folk, a chaperone meant to train Cora into the ways of British society, the brothers' cousin, Ophelia (Phee) is enough of a rascal despite being high born to make Cora comfy.

The first night we have the first murder and Cora is immediately and irretrievably involved. She pairs up with another passenger inadvertently and they spend the rest of the story working out what's going on and hoping to solve the murder(s) before they land. There''s lots of interaction among passengers, the crew, the servants and the entertainers to create a kind of Marx Brothers movie at times. I thoroughly enjoyed the hijinks, thought we were hit over the head with where a couple of romantic liaisons were going. A little more editing please. But overall found even that to be a lot of maybe yes, maybe no fun. Unlike others, one of my suspects was the culprit and I guessed more about them when they were actually caught. There must have been more clues than I realized and there are lots of red herrings. I'm also fine with an ending that is ambiguous, although I hope that means a sequel is on the way. Otherwise, I'll write my ending in my head.

An airship in 1890 set the tone for this story. Cora Beaumont is the owner. Sole owner. Does not go down well with many who are used to see husbands, fathers and brothers controlling their fortune. A brutal murder on the first day of its transplanting voyage does not help. Added to that Cora has just got engaged to the second son of a Duke of the enormously influential Tristam family, a point not taken well with the aristocratic daughters of the English who are travelling on the airship.

Cora’s fiancée is mainly absent and neglectful of Cora, and it is left to his brother Nicholas to step into the breach and act as protector and along with Cora, act as detectives when a second and third murder takes place. That someone is out to disrupt the entire line, and besmirch Cora’s name and reputation is obvious.

The setting of the airship travelling through rough seas, the restricted area and then the class distinctions and protocols which governed the people, added so many strands of interest and variety to the story. I also enjoyed the era.

I new author to me and a fun read. Not quite what I expected but the fun was there!

Gilded age and an airship! Yes that took some imagination and pulling off a murder mystery.
Intriguing characters and plenty of clues, but they will keep you guessing until the end!

Hopefully there will be more with this delightful character in the future!

DNF

Based on the description, this should have been the book for me. I love historical fiction murder mysteries with feisty, intelligent heroines, and the inclusion of an airship should have just made it that more interesting. Unfortunately, I could not stand our protagonist. She reads like a relic from bad 1990s historical romance: she hates skirts and petticoats and corsets, not out of any adherence to the Dress Reform movement or a sensory issue with fit and fabric or anything else remotely interesting, but rather to signal to the audience that she is Not Like Other Girls. For the same reason, the narration tells us that she WANTS to curse and speak her mind, but doesn’t, for… no reason she ever gives. And she wants to release her “wild spirit” but doesn’t, also for no discernable reason (and with no evidence of said ‘wild spirit’ actually existing). If the book were trying to paint her as a flawed, narcissistic, privileged snot who was going to be confronted by perspectives beyond her own, that would be fine, but the narrative so far is presenting these traits as positive. Perhaps if the narrative were more interesting, I could ignore my dislike for the cliched protagonist, but unfortunately this midair adventure put me to sleep.

A really enjoyable fast paced cosy mystery. It was was well written and if you suspended thoughts on how such an ornate and huge scale contraption could possibly fly it made for a great entertaining read. The chapters switching between the two leads was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to an early copy of this book.

for fans of SJTR and Agatha christie ,,,,,

I loved this book so much the main character was whitty and fun. I loved the themes of the book...... it had gilded age vibes. the story was intriguing. I love reading every page and once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. it is a must read.

4.5 stars

Oh this was such a fun locked ‘room’ (or airship, in this case) Gilded Age/Victorian mystery with a super yummy romance too! I would have enjoyed it based on the cleverly-plotted mystery alone, but all that delicious romantic tension made it even better, especially for this diehard KissingBooks fan. Ahhhhh I’m still swooning!! (And I’m REALLY hoping this story will be the first in a series because I need to revisit this couple and their fabulous chemistry.)

One of the things that sets A Lethal Engagement apart from other historical and/or locked room mysteries is the fact that it takes place on an airship going from America to England. This added a different sort of tension to the story as well as a fun ‘steampunk’ feel, and I found the whole atmosphere completely fascinating (macabre murders notwithstanding). From the division of accommodations by classes (like an ocean liner would have had) to the extravagant opulence for the upper echelon that the Gilded Age is known for (a garden on an airship!!), Skelly brings this airship of victims, suspects, sleuths, and everyone from the elite to the servants vividly to life. To be honest, I don’t know that I would be brave enough to fly across the ocean in an airship back then… or now either for that matter. Heck, I don’t even fly in airplanes. But certainly not when that technology was so new. So all of the characters on that ship started out with a tally in the ‘respect’ category from me… and then several of them quickly lost that distinction as I got to know them better lol. (But they were supposed to.)

Two characters I absolutely loved were our amateur sleuths – and story narrators – American heiress Cora Beaumont and her soon-to-be-brother-in-law (and duke’s heir) Lord Nicholas Tristan. Cora is so much more than than a wealthy heiress; she’s intelligent, quick-witted, and courageous. Nicholas is the kind of guy you imagine would make you feel safe but he also has this magnetic appeal that makes him – much to his dismay – the target of all marriageable females on board. Considering that Cora is engaged to Nicholas’ younger brother Terrance, this murder-solving-partnership may seem unlikely at first blush but oh what a delight it turned out to be! Their personalities are actually very well-matched, despite their differences, and they make a very good team of detectives in a pinch.

Bottom Line: Nothing is exactly as it seems in A Lethal Engagement by April J. Skelly, a delightfully entertaining historical mystery that takes the locked room trope to a whole new level. As in, the friendly (or not so friendly) skies on a voyage across the ocean that gives off fun steampunk vibes and seamlessly highlights many fascinating social dynamics of the Gilded Age. I loved that the story switches between the first person perspectives of our two sleuths Cora and Nicholas, and I loved how Skelly uses these POVs to sketch out their personalities with engaging detail. (Also because Nicholas is super dashing in every way and it was quite swoony to tag along with him.) And wow!!! Talk about some killer twists in this story! The author totally caught me off guard at least twice, which is not easy to do, and she’s made a forever fan out of me for that … and for the swoonilicious, breath-stealing romance! PLEASE let there be more to come with these characters! I need to know what happens next and what other intriguing mysteries Nicholas and Cora might team up to solve!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

I was hooked from the beginning!!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.
A great locked-room historical mystery debut.

This is an interesting new series with the journey being aboard an air ships which both new and different. The mystery ticked along at a good pace with the body count mounting and was very intriguing and the personal relationships developed nicely although I did think we were left hanging a little at the end so hopefully more will follow. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.