In preparation for reading the 4th book in the series, here’s my review of the first book.

Kate Ardleigh is everything the Victorian English gentlewoman is not–outspoken, free-thinking, American…and a writer of the frowned upon “penny-dreadfuls.” Soon after her arrival in Essex, England, a body is unearthed in a nearby archeological dig–and Kate has the chance to not only research her latest story…but to begin her first case with amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan.

1st in the Victorian/Edwardian Mystery series
ISBN: 0-425-16435-7 (Berkley)
Finshed: 16 April 2006
Who: Kathryn Ardleigh and Sir Charles Sheridan
When: 1894 England – Kathyrn arrives in September. Kate is approximately 25 and Charles is 33.

I couldn’t put this book down. I was immediately hooked by Kate and her circumstances. Though the mystery wasn’t too complicated, there was a time or two the authors had me doubting the murderer’s identity. I liked how Kate and Charles were not immediately drawn to one another, and that it will be a gradual thing. I also like the historical touches. This was the time when things like the telephone and the camera were becoming more common. When forensic science was becoming more common in crime investigation.

LOVED IT !!