Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose

 


Title:  Murder on Black Swan Lane

Author:  Andrea Penrose

Narrated by:  James Cameron Stewart

Publisher: HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 50 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

What is the weirdest thing you have used as a bookmark?

The Earl of Wrexford is a scientist with a sharp mind.  Reverand Josiah Holwarthy publicly accused him of debauchery, and which started a feud between them.  Satirical cartoonist A.J. Quill makes the most of this feud to increase their audience.  When the Reverand Holwarthy is found dead, Wexford is the main suspect.  Who murdered the reverend and why?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this book in May for the JASNA Northwoods book club.  We met in early June, and everyone seemed to enjoy this novel.

·       This is the 1st book in the Wrexford and Sloane historical mystery series.  I want to read more in this series.

·       The audiobook narrator had good accents for all the different characters.  It was an entertaining audiobook.

·       I enjoyed the Regency era setting.

·       I loved how chemistry and science was involved in this story.

·       I appreciated that A.J. Quill was actually a woman.  Charlotte is a widow and artist that has had to take over after his death to make ends meet.  She was a smart and strong character.

·       Wrexford and Charlotte become an unlikely investigative duo.  They worked well together.  They had a good friendship and there was no romance between them.

·       I loved the street urchins, Raven and Hawk, that Charlotte takes in. 

·       Wrexford was a moody and intelligent man and intriguing hero.  I didn’t feel like I really knew him by the end of the novel.  I hope he is more fleshed out in future novels.

·       The mystery was interesting and included what happened to Charlotte’s husband and how it was related to a mysterious club.

Overall, Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose was an interesting historical mystery.  I look forward to reading the rest of this series.

No comments:

Post a Comment