A GRAVE MATTER (A Lady Darby Mystery #3)
Anna Lee Huber
Berkeley Trade
July 2014


After  the death of an old friend with a tragic history of his own, Kiera, Lady Darby, retreats to her family home on the Scottish Borders. She is restless and depressed, not even finding consolation in her art, and her relationship with Sebastian Gage is still unresolved. Even though she and Gage have cooperated in two successful investigations, she finds Gage's secretiveness troubling and her own feelings confusing. She hopes that the annual festive Hogmanay Ball will lift her spirits. The ball however is interrupted by a visitor from a neighboring estate. There has been a grave robbing and the murder of an elderly caretaker; unlike most such events, the grave contains only the bones, not a fresh corpse. She contacts Gage and the two discover several other similar incidents in which a ransom has been demanded for the return of the bones. The investigation leads the two on a complicated path fraught with many suspects and motives, leading them into considerable danger.

I had very mixed feelings about the first book in the series, The Anatomist's Wife, but the second, Mortal Arts, gave me a little more understanding of both Kiera and Gage. Both the investigation and the relationship issues come to to very satisfactory conclusion in A Grave Matter. I doubt that all will be "happy ever after" for the two though! Both have had traumatic pasts that don't just resolve easily and both of them have a long way to go. The Lady Darby series is well-written and plotted, making for a very enjoyable read. 

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of A Grave Matter through a goodreads.com giveaway in return for an honest review.

RATING- 3.5 Stars