Murder, Gravity, and Other Observatory Disasters

A Cozy Regency Mystery of Love and Murder

On a lonely cliff above the harbour, Crowthorne Observatory is meant to produce neat numbers and impressed Admirals, not corpses in the courtyard. Cassia Fenwick, resident calculator with an inconvenient conscience, is already in trouble for insisting the western chronometer tell the truth. When the director walks up to the rooftop for a triumphant comet demonstration and instead takes a very efficient one way trip over the parapet, her columns of figures become the least comfortable thing in the building.

Enter Captain Edmund Verney, the Board of Longitude’s problem solver of last resort: ex naval, sharp eyed, unimpressed by donors, and annoyingly good at noticing when stories do not match the laws of gravity. With patrons clamouring for “tragic misadventure,” the Admiralty sniffing about fraud, and a tower perfectly suited to fatal misunderstandings, Cassia and Verney must sift fussy clocks, falsified logs, and a whole observatory full of people who would very much prefer the death to be tidy. If they fail, Cassia loses her work, her reputation, and quite possibly her freedom; the observatory itself may be shut for good. The murder is off page and non gory, the humour dry and dark, the romance a closed door slow burn with a firm happy for now.

A cozy Regency mystery of love and murder, this is a fair play mystery packed with real clues, rooftop timings, chronometer shenanigans, and banter that keeps getting in the way of good sense. Perfect for readers who enjoy clever female mathematicians, grumpy ex sea captains, perilously scenic viewpoints, and slow burn attraction tangled up with professional annoyance. Works as a complete stand alone, with more sly, historically rich Marisa Paxon mysteries waiting when you are ready for your next regrettable landing.