Mostly Murders

A True Crime Podcast-style Book Review

The year is 1899 and Countess Frances Harleigh is at an afternoon soiree in Park Lane, London. It is her first time spending the summer in London since she moved to England nine years ago, as her late husband, the Earl of Harleigh, had a habit of sending his wife and child to the countryside in the summer, leaving him free to galivant with his mistresses in London. Now a widow and in control of her own life, Frances has opted to stay in the city with her daughter Rose, her newly engaged sister Lily and her young protégée, Charlotte Deaver, known as Lottie.

Welcome to Mostlymurders, the bookstagram account where we look at fictional murders and ask ourselves a very important question: is this worth reading? I am your host Mostly, and I am joined here by my good friend Book. Today we are taking a look at A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder by Dianne Freeman, book 2 in the Countess of Harleigh Mystery series.

Mostly: As we heard in the intro, Frances Harleigh is at a soiree for those members of London high society who have not left the city for their summer estates and grouse hunting. Frances is somewhat preoccupied with her sister Lily’s upcoming engagement, but when a woman who her cousin Charles has been courting is found murdered in her home, Frances throws herself headfirst into investigating to clear her cousin’s name, helped by her trustworthy maid Jenny, her charming gentleman friend and neighbour George and her young protégée Lottie.

Book: I liked how Frances has a whole network of helpers. It sometimes seems unreasonable how one person managed to investigate and interrogate just about everyone else in a book. But with three people of different ages, genders, social class and occupations, it makes a lot more sense that they can actually uncover all the clues and evidence they find.

Mostly: Very true. Especially since this is set in 1899. Back then there were all sorts of rules for proper behaviour and who could talk to who and why and so on. I don’t like the idea of servants being below the rich, or women being barred from places men frequented, but it is a fact that there were lots of things like that back then.

Book: There’s a cop too. Inspector Delaney. Perhaps not your typical cozy historical mystery cop?

Mostly: Perhaps not. A lot of times in cozy mysteries, the cop is either a love interest of the main character, or an incompetent, blustering buffoon. Delaney is none of those. He is a happily married man who accepts the information Frances and her crew give him.

Book: He’s not a love interest because Frances already has one!

Mostly: Yes, there is definitely something going on between Frances and George, even if Frances is reluctant to admit it.

Book: She should just go for it! She’s single and she doesn’t even have to mingle, George is right there and clearly interested!

Mostly: He is, but Frances does have a reason for resisting his advances. Her first marriage wasn’t a happy one, with a husband who married her for her money and cheated on her left and right.

Book: Men! If I got my hands on this Earl of Harleigh, I’d teach him a thing or two about cheating on his wife!

Mostly: I’d almost feel bad for him if you did, Book. Almost. But back to the story. As Frances begins to investigate, she discovers that Mary had a secret. I won’t say too much about it, as it is an important part of the plot and the mystery, but suffice to say that Mary had secrets and that someone was willing to kill to keep those secrets from coming out.

Book: That’s the problem with high society, isn’t it? All these rich people, gossiping and judging and being so concerned with their reputations and honour.

Mostly: It is definitely a factor, though to be fair, I don’t think the Victorians were killing each other all the time over gossip in real life!

Book: Some of them probably did, and it was either swept under the rug because of the influence of Lord this-or-that, or never solved because they didn’t have DNA tests or fingerprints or traced calls or smartphone locations.

Mostly: You do have a point, Book. There are probably a mountain of unsolved murder cases from back in the day. But that doesn’t take away anything from our actual topic today, A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder. Did you enjoy the story, Book?

Book: Absolutely! I loved the fun conversations between Frances and Jenny and Lottie, and the cute, slow-burn romance between Frances and George. Oh, and I liked Charles too, in the beginning he seemed like a total doofus, but he ended up not actually being that bad!

Mostly: I agree, the characters and their interactions with each other are fun and entertaining, and I do have a soft spot in my heart for Victorian-era cozy mysteries, so it is no surprise that I liked this one. Highly recommended for people who like historical settings with character-driven mysteries, slow-burn romance and understated humour.

Cozy mystery – Historical mystery – Historical fiction