A Grave Matter

Lady Darby Mystery, Book 3

By: Anna Lee Huber

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

Returning to her childhood home, Lady Kiera Darby hopes her beloved brother Trevor and the merriment of the Hogmanay Ball will distract her. But when a caretaker is murdered and a grave is disturbed at nearby Dryburgh Abbey, Kiera is once more thrust into the cold grasp of death. While Kiera knows that aiding in another inquiry will only further tarnish her reputation, her knowledge of anatomy could make the difference in solving the case. But agreeing to investigate means Kiera must deal with the complicated emotions aroused in her by inquiry agent Sebastian Gage. When Gage arrives, he reveals that the incident at the Abbey was not the first - some fiend is digging up old bones and holding them for ransom. Now they must catch the grave robber… before another victim winds up six feet under.

©2014 Anna Aycock (P)2014 Tantor

Another Engaging Mystery

Kiera and Gage find themselves in the midst of yet another case when a party attended by Kiera comes to an end after a murder and grave robbery. Kiera's uncle persuades her to ask for Gage's help, and the adventure begins. The trail is long, with a number of pitfalls along the way; and that applies both to the case and Kiera and Gage's relationship. I do love these characters, as well as Kiera's family members. I cannot wait to see what mystery they become embroiled in next.

Love the characters and the basic story but....

Too much romance and I really don’t care what color any clothes are. Still a good yarn.

Pronunciation errors

Ok, I love the characters of Lady Darby and Gage. The mystery is well plotted and I will finish up the series. But good grief the word is pronounced "SKELetal" not "skeLATal" Drove me crazy.

Continues to grow

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, They characters are strong, true, human. She has not fultered from her base established in the 1st book. give you background, interesting true facts about the area and the times.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes, though I could guess what was coming next but have not on several occasions. She know how to build her story

Have you listened to any of Heather Wilds’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, She is steadfast in her attention to the details of the characters and story line

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My reaction was to want to set in my car and continue through the whole book. I have gone to the park and set just to continue listening to this story.

More romance than mystery

Excited about treating myself between Hogmanay and Burns' Day to a mystery set in Scotland between those same dates, I spent a credit on A Grave Matter. The narrator's Scots accents are excellent, the story's historic and geographic backgrounds are well researched, and the novel opens with a gripping scene: the good luck man with dark hair bearing gifts is pushed aside at midnight, and the first man to cross the threshold is a bad luck harbinger with red hair, streaked with blood. Wonderful! But then? No other word for it: the story drags. I think the source of the drag is that the intensity of the novel is concentrated in the fits-and-starts relationship between the traumatized artistic widow and her seeming playboy detective suitor. The mystery is just a jumble of investigations that throws them together. As a comedy of manners, which I was not looking for, the book earns the four stars I gave it. As a mystery, lack of emotional investment by any of the main characters in the laws being broken, myths confronted, or even bodies exhumed makes pursuing the criminals rather tedious. I put the book aside and listened to other novels before gritting my teeth to finish this book by Burns' Day, come hell or high water. Perhaps this series should not be read out of order. But four stars all the same for the delicacy and credibility of the volatile romance between two frightened, hardened, intelligent, and vulnerable people.