I normally really enjoy this series but this one didn't move me like the rest of the series has. There was a LOT of repetition and chatty dialogue but there really wasn't any adventure or action like there normally is. It was just kind of boring and the whole Queenie-the incompetent maid, the always broke & homeless Lady Georgiana & the continuously delayed wedding to Darcy thing is getting rather old.

It is past time for a change- spice it up and give us some new material please! 

*I read this for my 2016 Halloween Bingo: ~Genre: Mystery~ square

The previous book in the series left off with such a huge cliffhanger regarding Georgiana & Darcy so I've been dying ever since to find out what happens. I hope

In just about any other cozy series, this one would be a 4 star read, but Bowen has set her own standard rather high, and this one comparatively speaking, doesn't quite match up.

My biggest beef with it was the oh so worn out trope of weddingtus interruptus, followed by the even worse "we can never be together again; I'm only thinking of you" cliche.  I get that she's trying to string this romance out as long as possible but I expected better from this author.

Even still, the read was a lot of fun; you can't help love these characters and in this adventure Bowen even gets me to warm to Queenie, the living embodiment of TSTL.  We get an up close and personal introduction to Darcy's family and a visit to the ancestral castle in Ireland.

The mystery was, so-so.  I think it was sort of obvious who the players were but not how the story was going to come together.  The author notes at the end what is historical fact and what she's taken liberties with and turned into (slight) fiction.

All in all a pleasant way to while away the afternoon.