A Study in Murder: A Victorian Book Club Mystery

Romance author Hutton (Heirlooms of the Heart) makes her mystery debut with this disappointing series launch. Lady Amy Lovell, who writes mysteries under a pseudonym and is a member of a mystery book club in 1890s Bath, England, finds herself in a real-life mystery when her former fiancé, Ronald St. Vincent, is killed in her home. As the police seem ready to cast the murder as the outcome of a lovers’ quarrel, she and her friend William, Viscount Wethington, take up sleuthing. They follow up an anonymous note that indicates St. Vincent was involved in the drug trade. They also examine St. Vincent’s shipping business and pursue suspects such as his rejected girlfriend and his scheming nephew and heir. The engagement of a private investigator by Lady Amy’s father and an attempt on the lives of Lady Amy and Lord William add predictable complications. Anachronisms, implausibilities, and uneven plotting fail to convince. Fans of Hutton’s romances may appreciate this. Agent: Nicole Resciniti, Seymour Agency. (May)