Murder at Half Moon Gate (Wrexford & Sloane Mystery, #2)

by Andrea Penrose

"When Lord Wrexford discovers the body of a gifted inventor in a dark London alley, he promptly alerts the watchman and lets the authorities handle the matter. But Wrexford soon finds himself drawn into the murder investigation when the inventor's widow begs for his assistance, claiming the crime was not a random robbery. It seems her husband's designs for a revolutionary steam-powered engine went missing the night of his death. The plans could be worth a fortune...and very dangerous in the wrong hands"--Amazon.com.

• ISBN13: 9781496710796
• Publish Date: 27 March 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I like these books; the first one had some plotting problems towards the end, but this one offered a much tighter and surprising story.  The author does an excellent job with atmosphere and setting too, although I can't comment on historical anachronisms.  Penrose does include an author note at the end discussing the backdrop of the story and offering some non-fiction titles for further reading.   There's a stronger element of romance to these books than there were in the previous historical mysteries by Penrose, but it's not at all overbearing, and the characters are much more sympathetic.  I was worried the author was going to drag Charlotte's big dreaded secret out even longer into a 3rd book, but she pulled it out right at the end (and spoiler - it's not even a little shocking).  I continue to like the two waifs Charlotte has taken under her wing too; I generally don't like kids in my mysteries much, but they work here and they're never purposefully cute or cloying.     I'd put this series in just about the same class as the Lady Darby series by Anna Lee Huber - so if you like those, you might enjoy these.

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Murder at Half Moon Gate is the second mystery featuring Wrexford & Sloane. Written by Andrea Penrose, published by Kensington books, it was released 27 March, 2018. This is a well written and researched Regency era mystery featuring an unlikely partnership between a nobleman and a widow who is secretly carrying on her late husband's career as a political satirist.

The mystery itself is well paced and plotted with fleshed out characters. There is a lot of chemistry built up between the two titular characters and I appreciated that the author resisted the impulse to just fling them together romantically.

I enjoyed reading this book, and have since gone back to read the first book in the series as well. It would definitely appeal to fans of Kate Ross' Julian Kestrel, Barbara Hambly's Dr. Benjamin January (though he's American), or C.S. Ross' Sebastian St. Cyr. This series can stand shoulder to shoulder with those series quite well.

Enjoyable read.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.