Murder at the Serpentine Bridge: A Wrexford & Sloane Historical Mystery

At the start of Penrose’s roisterous sixth Wrexford and Sloane mystery (after 2021’s Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens), the Napoleonic Wars are finally over, and the Prince Regent has invited the sovereigns of Europe to London for a gala peace celebration. Charlotte Sloane, whose secret identity is scathing political cartoonist A.J. Quill, has finally married the dashing Earl of Wrexford, and they have created an unorthodox family with their two rambunctious, streetwise wards. But after the boys discover the body of engineering wizard Jeremiah Willis floating in a lake in Hyde Park, Charlotte’s long-desired life of domesticity will have to wait a while longer. Willis was designing a fearsome secret weapon, but the prototype for his invention is missing, and the Crown’s spymaster, Lord Grentham, recruits Wrexford to retrieve it before it falls into the hands of a foreign enemy. Fascinating and well-researched historic events compensate for a plot that unwinds slowly and sometimes tediously as a host of intrepid heroes and heroines pit their wits against dastardly villains. Readers who enjoy a colorful depiction of Regency England without demanding strict plausibility will have fun. Agent: Gail Fortune, Fortune Talbot Agency. (Oct.)