Review
MURDER AT THE MARLOWE CLUB by Kate Parker
The Second Milliner Mystery
Taking a shortcut through a private park, milliner Emily Gates discovers
the dead body of a woman. Lady Kaldaire soon joins the scene and
recognizes the woman as the notorious Lady Roxanne, wife of the equally
reprobate Lord Theodore who died mere weeks before. Although Emily just
wants to return to her business and make more hats, Lady Kaldaire has
other ideas. The murdered woman was the daughter-in-law of her good
friend and Lady Kaldaire is determined to make Emily help her solve the
murder. With Lady Kaldaire threatening to tell all of Emily's clients
that her family is comprised of criminals, thereby ruining her, Emily
reluctantly complies. Will Emily's new friends be able to help her
survive the debauchery found at the Marlowe Club? Or will she encounter
something even more sinister?
MURDER AT THE MARLOWE CLUB has more twists and turns than rosettes on one of Emily's millinery creations! The perceptions of various characters colored everything and I love how the truth was slowly revealed. The book proves a good reminder not to believe everything you hear!
Emily Gates makes a wonderful protagonist. She's loyal, smart, and truly doesn't want to get involved in another murder. Emily is also well able to take care of herself, as we see in a few scenes! Her criminally inclined family provide a great counterpoint to the aristocracy, with Emily caught in the middle. We also meet some great new characters in this second Milliner Mystery. The Duke and Duchess of Blackford are actually characters from the Victorian Book Shop Mysteries, another series written by Kate Parker. While readers familiar with that series will enjoy seeing these characters again, previous knowledge of them is totally unnecessary as they are unfamiliar to Emily as well and we learn about them as she does.
MURDER AT THE MARLOWE CLUB is an exciting twisty ride through the seamier side of Edwardian London at a time when cocaine was still legal and private clubs held all manner of secrets.
Emily Gates makes a wonderful protagonist. She's loyal, smart, and truly doesn't want to get involved in another murder. Emily is also well able to take care of herself, as we see in a few scenes! Her criminally inclined family provide a great counterpoint to the aristocracy, with Emily caught in the middle. We also meet some great new characters in this second Milliner Mystery. The Duke and Duchess of Blackford are actually characters from the Victorian Book Shop Mysteries, another series written by Kate Parker. While readers familiar with that series will enjoy seeing these characters again, previous knowledge of them is totally unnecessary as they are unfamiliar to Emily as well and we learn about them as she does.
MURDER AT THE MARLOWE CLUB is an exciting twisty ride through the seamier side of Edwardian London at a time when cocaine was still legal and private clubs held all manner of secrets.
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Murder at the Marlowe Club (The Milliner Mysteries) by Kate Parker
About Murder at the Marlowe Club
Historical Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Publisher: JDP Press (February 24, 2020)
Print Length: 209 pages
A corpse in a corset. A dangerous gambling den. A perilous path between safety and peril.
London, 1905. Leading milliner Emily Gates' illegal shortcut through a private park in the rain brought her straight to a scantily clothed corpse. Then her route took her straight into the hands of the indefatigable Lady Kaldaire, who recognized the body as a relative of her longtime friend, the Duchess of Wallingford. Lady Kaldaire blackmailed Emily before to find Lord Kaldaire's killer. Why not this murderer, too?
Emily has plenty of reasons why not, but finding links between her father's nefarious family of crooks and conmen and the debauchery of the secretive Marlowe Club involves her in the investigation led by the handsome Inspector Russell of Scotland Yard. Emily discovers more than she expects about the licentious world of the corpse through her aristocratic customers, including Georgia, heroine of the Victorian Bookshop Mysteries, now the Duchess of Blackford.
Are the scandal rags correct, or has the victim been maligned by a mastermind who'll stop at nothing to gain everything?
This is a historical cozy mystery with no graphic violence, sex, or foul language. Just exciting action, mysterious events, and surprising endings.
About Kate Parker
Kate Parker grew up reading her mother’s collection of mystery books and her father’s library of history and biography books. Now she can’t write a story that isn’t set in the past with a few decent corpses littered about.
Author Links:
Website - www.KateParkerbooks.com,
Facebook - www.facebook.com/Author.Kate.Parker
BookBub - www.bookbub.com/authors/kate-parker
Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Apple -Kobo
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I am more interested in historical mysteries than before, and this one appears well done.
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ReplyDeleteSounds like a good read, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLooks like an interesting read. Thanks for this opportunity.
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