With slight trepidation, I've rated this book and others in the series with four stars, although there are some seriously annoying problems with the ebooks.
First I'll say the books are good. They are interesting and seem to be well researched. They are compelling reads set in Regency England, which have kept me up well into the night on several occasions. Ms. Penrose writes well and has a fairly good vocabulary although she tends to use favorite words and expression over and again. Which is why I am perplexed by the obvious lack of proof reading.
One serious problem is that the main characters: the earl (Saybrook) & his wife the countess (Arianna), the ruthless, feared and most powerful minister of state security (Lord Grentham) and even the Scottish former comrade in arms who is a surgeon all parallel characters in the "Sabastian St Cyr Mysteries" by C. S. Harris.
What Angels Fear: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery
There are differences in the personalities and backgrounds of the the Lord and Lady husband and wife detectives, but Lord Grentham is nearly identical to the most feared power behind the throne in Regency England, Lord Jarvis in the .."St Cyr Mysteries". Both fiercely loyal to the crown, both ruthless and feared and both end up manipulating the detective characters, with whom they are at odds. The other nearly identical character is the Scot surgeon in the Lady Arianna Regency Mysteries and the Irish surgeon in the ..."St Cyr Mysteries".
Then again there is hardly a page that doesn't have glaring grammatical errors. It's not that the writer doesn't have a good grasp of English grammar but it seems as though she is relying too much on machines and software to make the corrections.
For all of that these books are still good enough to thoroughly enjoy! So if I may give the writer some advice... Please hire a good proof reader before publishing or submitting manuscripts to a publisher. When we are going over a manuscript making changes, we become blind to glaring errors that fresh eyes should pick up!
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![Smoke & Lies: A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery (Lady Arianna Hadley Mystery Book 4) by [Andrea Penrose]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51VlNTTNdxL._SY346_.jpg)
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Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries
East End Lady
I consider this to be easily the best book in the series
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 15, 2018Verified Purchase
Jay
Absolutely brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2018Verified Purchase
Leila Harvey
Interesting book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2019Verified Purchase
Margaret Howard
Lady Arianna suceeds again
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2019Verified Purchase
W. Bayne
Good Solid Read for Period Mysteries with a Personal Twist.
Reviewed in Canada on June 7, 2018Verified Purchase
