Once Upon a Murder (A Lady Librarian Mystery, #2)

by Samantha Larsen

Miss Tiffany Woodall must sleuth the slaying of a footman to clear her beloved's name in the second Lady Librarian mystery, in the vein of Deanna Raybourn and perfect for fans of Bridgerton.

1784 England. Officially hired as the librarian for the Duchess of Beaufort, Miss Tiffany Woodall is through with masquerades and murders for good. That is, until she stumbles upon the frozen dead body of former footman Mr. Bernard Coram. The speed with which her peaceful new life is upended is one for the record books: the justice of the peace immediately declares her the primary suspect in the murder.

As Tiffany hunts for the truth to clear her name, she learns that Bernard got into a fight over a woman at the local pub the night of his death–but he was also overheard blackmailing Samir. The justice of the peace arrests Samir, and Tiffany realizes that her life may have more in common with a tragic play than a light-hearted romance.

With her love locked up in jail and her own reputation on the line, Tiffany must attempt to solve the murder before the book closes on her or Samir’s life.

• ISBN10: 1639106219
• ISBN13: 9781639106219
• Publish Date: 20 February 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Crooked Lane Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781639106219

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Once Upon a Murder is the second book in the Lady Librarian historical cozy mystery series by Samantha Larsen. Released 20th Feb 2024 by Crooked Lane, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is a charming historical cozy with an appealing protagonist who employs creative and intelligent solutions to counteract some of the harsher realities of Regency history (women often lived lives of tenuous and terrifying insecurity). She's smart and generally honest and clever as well, and easy to relate to. Although she's sworn off murder and investigation after the last time, she's now stumbled over the frozen body of a former footman of the estate of her patroness and employer, The Duchess of Beaufort, and must use her abilities and intelligence to clear her name and her love interest Samir.

The book is well written and the author has a firm grasp on the nuts and bolts of plot, setting, and characterization. It's a light cozy with a strong romance subplot and a surprising amount of effective humor. It's a bookish book, and there are book titles and period book/library trivia and title-dropping throughout. 

Happily, the author mostly ignores the more rigid realities of race, parentage, and class which would have precluded many of the interactions and relationships in the book.

Four stars. This would make an appealing short binge/buddy read, as well as a good choice for public library acquisition.

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