12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally: a Regency mystery-romance worth raving about, October 4, 2002
This review is from: A Rather Necessary End (Paperback)
"A Rather Necessary End" is the first in a projected series featuring the detecting adventures of Lady Priscilla Flanders and her friend, Sir Neville Hathaway. And if the future novels in this series turn out to be as good as this one, mystery fans who also happen to be aficionados to the Regency period can look forward to intriguing and engrossing reads down the road.
Lady Priscilla Flanders (the widow of the universally loved vicar of Stonehall-on-Sea)'s well ordered world suffers a severe tilting when, early one evening, she finds the Duke of Meresden dead in her garden, his head bashed in. But if that was not horrifying enough, the knowledge that the village constable considers her to be the prime suspect in the duke's murder would be enough to send most women scurrying to their beds for solace. Fortunately, Lady Priscilla is made of sterner stuff. And she's determined to clear her name, protect her children and discover the identity of the real murderer. And together with her good friend, Sir Neville Hathaway, she sets out to do this. Unfortunately the clues are short on the ground. And save for the slightly suspicious behaviour of the late duke's son and heir, suspects are in short supply as well. Add to that the headache of having her meddlesome aunt descend on her, threatening to remove her children from her 'scandalous' household, and things look truly bleak indeed. And then another worthy villager is attacked. and finally Lady Priscilla begins to see a glimmer at what may be at the heart of the murder and threats...
"A Rather Necessary End" was a real treat for me to read. Finally a good mystery novel that also possesses an intelligent, engaging and grown up heroine! Thank you, Jo Ann Ferguson. "A Rather Necessary End" possesses a rather interesting and intriguing storyline. And the authour tells the story in such a tantalising way that I just had to finish the book in one go. While there are a few twists and turns in the mystery plot, this book is not one of those mystery novels where clues are strewn all over the place so that the reader can try to solve the mystery as the novel unfolds. (But I found that I didn't mind this very much). And while the identity of the murderer became fairly obvious after a while, the motive behind the murder and assaults remained a tantalising mystery till the very end.
Romance-wise, some readers may be a little disappointed that the romance between Lady Priscilla and Sir Neville Hathaway remains a rather muted motif even to the very end. However, since this is to be a series, I do think that everyone can take heart that the romance between these two will come to the fore as the series progresses.
"A Rather Necessary End" turned out to be a truly brilliant and enjoyable read, and one that should not be missed.
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Warming - not a romance!!!, December 3, 2002
This review is from: A Rather Necessary End (Paperback)
Just a quick work of advice: this is really not a romance, but a mystery and not a very interesting one at that. Romance is in the background. SInce this is the first in a series of stories about the couple solving mysteries, I would save my money and wait for the last book to come out since I would guess it will be during that book that the romance will really bloom.
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