29 August 2012

And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily #1)

Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily series was recommended to me by my SIL (who I have yet to get to join GR) so I put And Only To Deceive on my Book Blogger Holiday Swap wishlist.

And I was gifted a copy. Shame on me for not reading it until now.

The plot is a bit convoluted, but I liked it (this likely comes from reading Victorian novels so I am maybe a bit immune to these sorts of things).  Lady Emily is coming out of mourning for her husband who died while abroad in Egypt (aside: Victorian mourning is crazy-pants).  Just as she starts moving in Society again she visits the British Museum - and discovers that her late husband, whom she married to conveniently escape her mother, may have been involved in antiquities fraud.  Or theft.  Emily sets out to unravel the mystery, starting with her husband's journals which reveal more than she sought to know.  Meanwhile, Emily is presented with two eligible suitors: Andrew Palmer (wanker, didn't like him) and Colin Hargreaves (the late-husband's best friend, who, although he should have been up-front about certain things from the beginning, was on Emily's side the whole time). 

I loved all the Greek literature and art information intertwined with Emily's tale - not only is this a mystery, it is also a coming-of-age tale where Emily learns who her deceased husband really was, learns to mourn him, and starts to learn who she really is and what she wants.

Definitely interested in reading the next in this series (Kristen got me into the Pink Carnation series so I'll trust her on this one).

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