THE COUNTERFEIT HEIRESS (Lady Emily #9)
Tasha Alexander
St. Martin's Minotaur
November 2014
It is 1897 and Lady Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves, are making preparations for their attendance at the premier social event of the season. It is Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year and the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire are hosting a masquerade ball in her honor. All is going as usual until Lady Emily is approached by a mysterious auburn haired man who addresses her with half of a line of Homeric poetry which Emily responds to with the line's finish. Rather than continuing the conversation he seems exasperated and quickly leaves. She is puzzled but diverted by another attendee who points out Estelle Lamar. Estelle Lamar is a very wealthy and mysterious world traveler who has not been seen in England or her native France for nearly two decades. When Emily in turn points Estelle out to her friend Cecile, she is outraged. Estelle was a childhood friend and this woman is not Estelle! Cecile and Emily confront her and the woman flees. The next day the woman is found murdered on the riverbank; her name is Mary Bradley, a failed actress and midwife. Colin is more concerned with the murder of Mary but Cecile is distraught over the impersonation. She has received letters from Estelle over the the years but is now afraid that something dire has happened.
The search for Estelle takes Colin and Emily to some of the darkest places in Paris as the mystery deepens. Told in alternating voices, that of Emily and the missing Estelle herself, with references to the works of Dickens, The Counterfeit Heiress is a fascinating story that kept me guessing until the end. Getting into the mind of Estelle was quite a journey and it's ultimate end very poignant. The Lady Emily series has been an on and off pleasure for me. I have enjoyed some of the books and others not so much, but I think The Counterfeit Heiress is the strongest since And Only to Deceive. I recommend it highly for the mystery and the history. If you are at all interested in the historical ball that begins the book there is a wealth of information and many photos by the famous photographer, Lafayette, to be found on the net.
RATING- 4 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment