A Crimson Warning: A Lady Emily Mystery (Lady Emily Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Tasha Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 25, 2011 | Series: Lady Emily Mysteries (Book 6)

Secrets prove deadly in this new novel from Tasha Alexander featuring Lady Emily Hargreaves. Some very prominent people in London are waking up to find their doorsteps smeared with red paint, the precursor to the revelation of a dark secret – and worse – by someone who enjoys destroying lives

Newly returned to her home in Mayfair, Lady Emily Hargreaves is looking forward to enjoying the delights of the season. The delights, that is, as defined by her own eccentricities—reading The Aeneid, waltzing with her dashing husband, and joining the Women’s Liberal Federation in the early stages of its campaign to win the vote for women. But an audacious vandal disturbs the peace in the capital city, splashing red paint on the neat edifices of the homes of London’s elite. This mark, impossible to hide, presages the revelation of scandalous secrets, driving the hapless victims into disgrace, despair and even death. Soon, all of London high society is living in fear of learning who will be the next target, and Lady Emily and her husband, Colin, favorite agent of the crown, must uncover the identity and reveal the motives of the twisted mind behind it all before another innocent life is lost.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Tasha Alexander has created Victorian London's most colorful and delightfully eccentric sleuth.  Anglophiles and fans of the well-plotted historical mystery will be charmed by Lady Emily - and will thoroughly enjoy A CRIMSON WARNING!" --Jacqueline Winspear, New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs Series

"Enchanting...Alexander keeps readers guessing to the very end."--Publishers Weekly

"The mystery and the solution are clever, with the addition of commentary on the dark side of a class-driven society for extra oomph. Fans will be excited to spend more quality time with such appealing and intelligent characters."--Library Journal

"With Emily embodying the feminist ideals and sleuthing instincts of Amelia Peabody (Emily joins the Women's Liberal Federation to scandalize her mother), this historical mystery should appeal to fans of Elizabeth Peters."--Booklist

Praise for Tasha Alexander:

“Author Tasha Alexander is one to watch—and read. . . . despite her cliffhanger climaxes and witty repartee, there's a depth of sensitivity which sets her apart.”—The Huffington Post on Dangerous to Know

“With wisps of darkness, shadows of a ghost story and embers of heightened Freudian themes, Dangerous to Know is the perfect novel to curl up with and chase away the world.”—Examiner.com

“Infused with wit and charm, with just the right amounts of danger, romance and detection blended in.”—Denver Post on Tears of Pearl

“[Tears of Pearl] will please readers of Anne Perry, Laurie R. King, and Deanna Raybourn seeking a new fan-favorite author.”—Library Journal on Tears of Pearl

“A thoroughly enjoyable adventure with both historical texture and emotional depth.”—Anne Perry, New York Times bestselling author on A Fatal Waltz

“Alexander’s sweetly choreographed plot dances between her wonderfully drawn sleuth, Lady Ashton, and Victorian high society.”—Julie Spencer-Fleming, Edgar Award finalist and author of All Mortal Flesh on A Poisoned Season

“Alexander excels in depicting the social mores of a society uncomfortable with the independence of women, and deftly allows the plot to develop in tandem with Emily’s growth.”—The Baltimore Sun on And Only to Deceive

About the Author

Tasha Alexander is the author of the Lady Emily novels, a series of historical suspense, including Tears of Pearl and Dangerous to Know. She attended the University of Notre Dame, where she signed on as an English major in order to have a legitimate excuse for spending all her time reading. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, divide their time between Chicago and the UK. Please visit her website at www.tashaalexander.com.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (October 25, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312661754
• ISBN-13: 978-0312661755
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #497,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tasha Alexander is the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Emily series and the novel ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE. She attended the University of Notre Dame, where she studied English and Medieval History. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, divide their time between Chicago and the UK.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars In the Lady Julia vs. Lady Emily competition, I'm switching to Team Lady Emily. December 10, 2011

By Old Latin teacher TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia is a lady sleuth of the peerage in Victorian England. In her first book Silent in the Grave Lady Julia becomes a widow and teams up with her future second husband to find out what had happened to said first husband. (Murder most foul?) In Tasha Alexander's first Lady Emily book in 2005 And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily), her protagonist is also a recently-widowed lady of the peerage in Victorian England who teams up with her deceased husband's best friend (and later to be her second husband) to find out what happened to her first husband.

I suppose if we're going to call anyone a copycat, it must be noted that Alexander's book came out first, but each series has its own special personality and flair and a reader can enjoy both, without feeling that one is imitative of the other. That said, I must confess that I was on Team Lady Julia as to which series I preferred, but I'm switching. The more books written in each series, the less I am admiring Lady Julia's character, personality and behaviour and the more admiring I am of Lady Emily. She has become an admirable woman, an amateur sleuth and scholar (with studies of ancient artifacts, Greek, and Latin) without losing her dignity, common sense and with her behaviour as much in line with Victorian times as an independent thinking woman's can be.

In this entry, someone is disturbing Victorian peerage's peace of mind by splashing red paint on various houses and threatening to reveal secrets and scandals of those living within. When someone ends up murdered, everyone is worried not just that their secrets may be revealed but that their lives may be in danger.

So...Lady Emily and her spy husband to the rescue. This is a darned good story, well paced, with excellent dialogue, well-written characters, and a few red herrings so as not to guess whodunit too soon, all set in a well-researched England of the late 1800s. All in all, a very good read. Go Team Lady Emily!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like a little mystery mixed with your historical fiction, Tasha Alexander will not disappoint October 31, 2011

By Bookreporter

Format:Hardcover

There's something fun about discovering an author for the very first time. When I finish the new find, I'm always happy to know that more is waiting for me. This is how I felt after reading A CRIMSON WARNING by Tasha Alexander. I enjoyed the book, and learning that it's part of a series made me happy to know that I would have more chances to peek in on Lady Emily Hargreaves's Victorian London.

Lady Emily is anticipating the delights of the season: the balls, her involvement in lobbying for the right to vote, and, of course, time with her favorite Greek books. At one of the season's first events, Lady Emily is happily dancing away the evening with her husband Colin, looking for an opportunity to sneak out so they can spend some time alone when a fight breaks out among two men. It turns out that an affair has been exposed, and they are arguing over ladies at the party. Suddenly, Colin, an agent of the crown, is called away on urgent business. Emily heads home with friends to discuss the eventful evening. When Colin arrives, it is with sad news: a well-known businessman has been murdered. His fiancée is devastated, but it's when she starts receiving threatening notes from the person who claims to have killed her soon-to-be husband that Emily and Colin start investigating.

Days later, red paint is found splashed on the homes of some of London's most well-to-do. The paint is a warning, and secrets are revealed shortly after, leaving some in London to revel in the disclosures, and others to fear for their lives and what will be revealed about them. When two of society's ladies are kidnapped, the season that held so much promise for fun is now filled with fear.

Lady Emily is far from the standard lady of the day. While she enjoys the pleasures of the season, it's her work lobbying for a woman's right to vote that riles her mother, a more straightforward Victorian lady, to no end. She's also smart and extremely well-educated, which keeps her highly active in her husband's affairs with the crown. And he's willing to keep her involved even when others think he's wrong to do so. Their relationship is certainly more open than most at the time, which is one of the reasons this novel is fun. There is also romance here, but it's not overwhelming and blends in nicely with the story. As a non-romance reader, I was slightly worried that it would overtake the plot, so I was happily surprised with the balance that was struck.

While I loved Colin and Lady Emily's investigation, what I enjoyed even more was the setting. Tasha Alexander does a wonderful job with the details, creating interesting ladies and a picture of Victorian England that is easy to be swept up in. I do wish Lady Emily's mother played a larger role here --- she was quite the interesting character and obviously one very different from Emily. It would have been fun to see more of their interactions.

As a reader of many historical fiction titles, this is one author I'll be returning to for a dose of fun mixed with a great historical setting. She does a fantastic job of weaving together interesting characters with a mystery to keep you wondering what secrets are buried deep in the closets of high society. If you like a little mystery mixed with your historical fiction, Tasha Alexander will not disappoint.

Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Jolly Good Time November 6, 2011

By Diana

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Just finished Tasha Alexander's A Crimson Warning. The sixth in her Lady Emily mystery series. What I like: it's a mashup of regency romance and cozy mystery, the proverbial lovechild of Agatha Christie and Barbara Cartland. I'm half in love with Emily's (now husband) dashing spy Colin Hargreaves. The setting is London and the social whirl of the Ton. In this installment, Emily and Colin explore the toxicity of secrets. Someone is literally "Painting the Town Red," or at least the doorsteps of aristocrats with something to hide. It's a game of who will be exposed next and it takes us on a treasure hunt through the British Museum. Tasha Alexander has kept the series fresh which can be hard to do once you've married off your lead characters. If you like cozy history mystery with a froth of romance, you'll love this series. All six books are solid reads.