Publication Date: April 7th 2020 by Berkley
Pages: 384
Audiobook length: 11 hours 29 minutes
Source: Publisher and purchased audio book
Narrator: Heather Wilds
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible
About the book:
Lady Kiera Darby and
her husband Sebastian Gage are looking forward to relaxing with new
friends at an exciting yearly soiree, but they soon learn that murder
never takes a holiday in the latest riveting installment in this
national bestselling series.
Scotland 1832. After enjoying a
delightful holiday with her family, Lady Kiera Darby is looking forward
to finishing her new friend, the Duchess of Bowmont's portrait, as well
as attending the duchess' annual Twelfth Night party. Though she
normally avoids such fashionable events, Kiera trusts the attention will
not be focused on her, but rather her notorious hostess and her family.
But upon their arrival at the opulent Scottish estate, Kiera and her
husband and fellow investigative partner, Sebastian Gage, swiftly deduce
that all is not merry in the duke's household. The family appears to be
under a great strain, and someone seems determined to cause mayhem
among the guests with a series of forged notes.
However, matters
swiftly turn from irksome to downright deadly when the merrymakers
stumble upon a decomposing body in the castle's crypt. This corpse is
certainly no laughing matter, especially when it is identified as the
duchess' son-in-law, the Earl of Helmsdale, who had purportedly traveled
to Paris more than a month earlier. It is evident the man met with foul
play, and Kiera and Gage step in to investigate, at the duchess'
insistence. Kiera and Gage must swiftly reexamine the facts, for a
ruthless murderer walks among them and may well be a member of the
duchess' own family. Kiera soon discovers just how deep the killer is
willing to dig to keep their secrets from ever seeing the light of day.
My
Thoughts:
I flew through the Lady Darby series last year after reading
and loving Anna Lee Huber’s Verity Kent series.
Both are delightful! When we meet Lady Kiera Darby at the beginning of
the series, she is a woman ostracized by society when they found out her late husband
had her sketch the dead bodies he dissected for an anatomy journal he planned
on publishing. At the time fresh bodies were hard to come by, not many would
donate their body to science for this purpose, so medical colleges and people
like Sir Darby resorted to buying corpses from questionable sources. It was later
found out that some of these suppliers not only robbed fresh graves, but also
murdered people to sell as dead medical subjects. Kiera had no knowledge of this, and even if she
did there wasn’t much she could’ve done about it since her husband was forcing
her to comply by force and threats. He was an awful man, as we learn from Kiera’s
memories, and so I was thrilled he died before we’re introduced to her.
This unwanted, unsolicited knowledge of anatomy as well as Kiera’s
superb deductive skills make her valuable source of information to Gage, an
inquiry agent tasked to solve a murder while staying at her sister’s estate. In Kiera’s estimations, Gage is entirely too full
of himself, and the rest, as they say, is history! Each installment tackles a
new mystery, while at the center of the series is the relationship between Kiera
and Gage. Ms. Huber masterfully created two wonderfully complex characters,
faults and all, so of course their journey isn’t all smooth sailing, but I’ve
loved every minute!
This is the eighth book in the series, so if you read on,
you’re bound to get some spoilers. If you’re planning on reading the series, which I totally recommend, I’d stop
right here and go search for the first book! I highly recommend the audio
version as Heather Wilds’ performance is perfection!
In Stroke of Malice Kiera and Gage are intent on
relaxing, spending time with family while enjoying the festivities of a Twelfth
Night Celebration at the Duchess of Beaumont’s estate in Scotland. This is a happy time for Kiera and Gage, still
newly married and expecting their first child. I adore these two together,
settled and joyous in their situation! Unfortunately, the happy times are rudely
interrupted by the discovery of a dead body in crypt. Gage and Kiera must find
out the identity of the body as well as the murderer which is not made easy by
the family or guests involved.
The mystery is wrapped up and solved, but as usual I’m left
wanting the next story!
4 Suns
