annieb123's Review of A Perilous Perspective (Lady Darby Mystery, #10)

by Anna Lee Huber

An all-new historical mystery in this USA Today bestselling series featuring beloved inquiry agents Lady Kiera Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage.

Argyll, Scotland. July 1832. After a trying few months in Edinburgh, Kiera and her husband and investigative partner, Sebastian Gage, are eager to escape to the Highlands with their three-month-old child. Kiera is overjoyed for her cousin Rye and her detractor-turned-friend Charlotte who are being wed in a private ceremony at the estate of Rye’s great-uncle, the Marquess of Barbreck, in what seems to be the perfect wedding party.

But when Kiera is invited to peruse Barbreck’s extensive art collection, she is disturbed to discover that one of his most priceless paintings seems to be a forgery. The marquess’s furious reaction when she dares to mention it leaves her shaken and the entire house shocked. For it turns out that this is not the first time the word forgery has been uttered in connection with the Barbreck household.

Matters turn more ominous when a maid from a neighboring estate is found murdered where the forged painting hangs. Is her death connected to the forgeries, perhaps a grisly warning of what awaits those who dare to probe deeper? With unknown entities aligned against them, Kiera and Gage are forced to confront the fact that they may have underestimated their opponent. For they are swiftly made to realize that Charlotte’s and Rye’s future happiness is not the only issue at stake, and this stealthy game of cat and mouse could prove to have deadly consequences.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

A Perilous Perspective is the 10th Lady Darby historical mystery by Anna Lee Huber. Released 19th April 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 400 pages and available in paperback, 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. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

Set in the 1830s in Scotland, this is a long running series with distinct and well rendered characters who are believable and established. Although it's the 10th book in the series, the mystery, denouement, and resolution are self contained and it works well enough as a standalone. The author is quite adept (and prolific) and this was my first foray with Lady Darby and her associates. I'm more familiar with the author's interwar British series, featuring Verity Kent.

Lady Darby is more refined, more earnest, and more cerebral, and I've been impressed at how different the series are. Both are very well written and readable, but entirely different setting, time period, and atmosphere. This volume sees Lady Darby and her husband/partner Sebastian on a trip to see friends be married. Murder soon intrudes and it's up to Kiera and Gage to untangle the mystery.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 11 hours 30 minutes and is capably narrated by Heather Wilds.
. She reads the characters distinctly and does a good job of differentiating the accents. Except for the dialogue (which she does competently), I found her voice unobtrusive and neutral, in a good way.

Four stars. More than competently written, engaging, and cleverly constructed. It would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition or substantial binge read. An 11th book in the series, A Fatal Illusion, is due out in 2023.

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

Reading updates

Started reading

Finished reading

10 November, 2022: Reviewed

Started reading

Finished reading

10 November, 2022: Reviewed