A Place of Confinement

Starred review from June 24, 2013
In Dean’s highly entertaining fourth Regency mystery featuring 30-ish spinster Dido Kent (after 2012’s A Woman of Consequence), Dido bristles at serving as companion to her Aunt Manners during the latter’s visit to Charcombe Manor, which she finds to be “not a house at ease with itself.” One reason for the underlying tension is the disappearance two days earlier of 19-year-old Letitia Verney, who was under the care of Dido’s host, Lancelot Fenstanton. Letitia was last seen with a young man of dubious reputation, Tom Lomax, who just happens to be the son of the man Dido is in love with. Tom insists that he not only walked Letitia back to the manor but watched her enter, despite the testimony of those in the house at the time that Letitia never came through the door. The solution to that impossibility is as clever as the rest of the plot. Agent: David Marshall, Marshall Rights.

Starred review from July 15, 2013
A Regency lady must prove a man innocent of murder if she is to have any chance of future happiness. Clever, independent Dido Kent chafes under the strictures of caring for her wealthy Aunt Manners, who's visiting her childhood home of Charcombe Manor. The task is Dido's punishment for refusing an offer of marriage from a cleric with a pack of children after she had already received an offer from William Lomax. Although she loves William, she has given him no answer because she fears that her self-reliance might jeopardize their marriage. Upon their arrival at Charcombe, they discover that Letitia Verney, a wealthy heiress, is missing and that William's son Tom is suspected of spiriting her away, even though he is to be found in the neighboring town. The annoying George Fenstanton and his charming nephew Lancelot, who owns Charcombe, have a good deal of money invested in a new town they are building at the nearby seaside, and Miss Verney's fortune would certainly be a help to their scheme. Dido can see that both George's daughter and Miss Verney's best friend are hiding secrets. Even her Aunt Manners is acting strangely. When a man bringing information about the disappearance is found murdered, Tom Lomax is arrested, and although his father does not want Dido putting herself in danger by investigating, she knows that any chance of a marriage between them will be over if Tom is not proven innocent. The fourth in this excellent series (A Woman of Consequence, 2012, etc.), beautifully written in the style of Jane Austen, will leave even die-hard mystery mavens puzzled until the final chapters.

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from July 1, 2013

In 1807, being an unmarried woman dependent upon the goodwill of her brothers can mean that when she is selected as a lady's companion by a cantankerous, wealthy aunt, she has no choice in the matter. Arriving at Charcombe Manor to visit her aunt's family, Dido struggles with the unpleasant feelings her servitude and further loss of status in society have bestowed upon her. Only when Dido is invited to investigate the whereabouts of missing fellow houseguest Miss Verney does her zest return, even with the complication of Tom Lomax as the missing young lady's suitor. When Tom is accused of murdering a man, Dido must exonerate Tom in order to keep the family name, and his father, respectable. A clever, crafty lady with unending determination to do what is right, Dido Kent deserves a spot alongside Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple in the great sleuth pantheon. VERDICT In this fourth series outing, historical observations on how gender and wealth affect the perceived value of an individual life give greater depth to Dido's personal story line and time period. Plus? The actual whodunit portion of this novel is superb, surprising, and satisfying!--Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2013
In April 1807, Miss Dido Kent, a spinster almost past marriageable age and with no fortune, is compelled to accompany her Aunt Manners on a visit to Charcombe Manor. In letters to her sister Eliza, interspersed through the narrative, Dido probes one mystery after another. Whyand howhas Miss Letitia Verney, an heiress, disappeared from the estate? Why has Aunt Manners not been to the Elizabethan country home belonging to her brother, George Fenstanton, for 30 years? And why is Miss Gibbs, Letitia's companion, the only one hearing the ghostly sounds at night? Then the gathering is drawn into the murder of Mr. Brodie, who had just traveled from the Caribbean, perhaps with a letter from Letitia's father about Letitia's engagement to Tom Lomax, the prime suspect. Convinced of Tom's innocence and wanting help in finding Letitia, Dido begins a round of purposeful conversations with the others living at the manor, trying to piece the puzzle together. This fourth in the series will be popular with lovers of historical fiction as it combines a good mystery with gentle probings into societal norms during the Regency period.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)