Member Review

Lady Petra Forsyth and some of the most notable members of The Ton have been invited to a weeklong celebration at Windsor Castle, the highlight of which will be a patisserie contest for which Lady Petra is going to be a judge and her cook one of the contestants. But a murder surrounded in secrets and way too many suspects has Petra and those around her rushing to solve it before an innocent man is framed.

Another dynamic entry for the Lady Petra Inquires series, this time, it's all about the mystery and Petra being forced to face things she might not want to. It's one revelation after another wrapped up in royal intrigue, where each turn brings a new twist to the case and not everything is as it seems.

Having complained that the previous book put too much emphasis on the romance and almost none on the mystery, I shouldn't complain about the romance being almost non-existent in this one, but I love Petra's banter with Duncan Shawcross, and we don't get nearly enough of it. We do get a lot of reflection on what love is and how it affects people and their choices, so it's not missing completely.

I also like that there are rumblings that not everyone is happy with Petra's life choices and how she's decided to live her life. It's nobody else's business, but it reflects the times the story is set in and sets up a societal reconning for her that could be interesting in a future volume.

This is now a series that I'll be sure to pick up.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the fun and twisty read!