The Deathly Portent by Elizabeth Bailey

The Deathly Portent (Lady Fan Mystery, #2)

by Elizabeth Bailey

"Her charm and cajolery may fool the unwary. Ingenious and cunning, as dauntless as she is resolute, the incomparable "Lady Fan" is as ruthless as the killer she is tracking in... The Deathly Portent. A violent murder has left the village of Witherley aghast. The locals are convinced that a witch doing the devil's work is to blame--a young woman believed to have second sight. The new vicar, Aidan, taking up the cudgels in her defence, fears the witch hunt is escalating out of his control. But help is at hand. The bright and perceptive Ottilia, once a lady's companion and now bride to Lord Francis Fanshawe, is drawn to Witherley by an insatiable curiosity. Ottilia rapidly uncovers a raft of suspects with grudges against the dead man, one of whom is determined to incriminate the "witch." And as foul play runs rampant, Ottilia must wade through the growing hysteria to unravel the tangle and point a finger at the one true menace.."--

Reviewed by annieb123 on

3 of 5 stars

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Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Deathly Portent is the second Lady Fan Mystery by Elizabeth Bailey. Released 23rd Aug 2018 by Sapere books, it's 381 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.

I really like historical fiction. I love period based mysteries. I enjoyed the first book in this series and fully expected to enjoy this one as well. There is a fair bit to enjoy. The author has done a lot of research and it shows. Her writing is competent and the plot flows mostly without lagging too terribly much.

I found myself struggling to connect with the main characters. They're by turns rude, overbearing, condescending and not terribly bright. (I can stick all of the above, but blundering and clueless are deadly). I finished the book last weekend, and I'm still annoyed over 'whodunnit'. It might well be true to period, but I read fiction for escape and excusing blatant racism and sexism because 'it's period' should remain firmly in the past. I get enough depressing headlines from the newspaper feed.

I struggled to finish this book because of the language. It's not an easy exercise, making archaic and obsolescent speech patterns palatable for modern readers. The author gave it a good try, but in my case at least, I winced a lot. Every single b'aint was a speed bump. Every use of 'creature' referring to women (43! I counted) was a break in my suspension of disbelief and every 'head toss' and 'fluttering' body part made me want to bang my head on my desk.

This is a murder mystery written, for all intents and purposes, like a period romance. There is romance and implied physical relations (off scene, nothing graphic). There is implied cursing but nothing graphic or specific. There isn't any direct content to offend or shock modern audiences, unless one counts the sexism and anti 'everyone who isn't white and male' sentiment.

There are now 3 books in the series with a 4th expected 3rd Jan, 2019.

Worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and the others in the series) are included in the KU subscription.

Three stars for me. The writing is competent and the plot framework was within bounds. I will say that there are a lot of diehard fans of this author and the series as a whole, so I seem to be in the minority. Probably worth a try for period romance fans.

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

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 7 January, 2019: Finished reading
  • 7 January, 2019: Reviewed