A Gentlewoman's Guide to Murder

By: Victoria Hamilton

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

Scandal and slayings among Regency London's elite

The shocking murder of Sir Henry Claybourne leaves Regency London shaken and horror-struck. But for genteel spinster Miss Emmeline St. Germaine, the crime slices far too close to home. Just hours before the knight's death she held a dagger to him, threatening him to stay silent as she rescued a scullery maid he had procured for his pleasure. 

Did the man - or woman - who murdered the knight know of her visit? Her secret identity at risk, her reputation and life in jeopardy, Emmeline must solve the crime or face scandalous exposure and ruination, or worse - the hangman's noose - for a crime she did not commit.

©2019 Victoria Hamilton (P)2019 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"[An] outstanding series launch...Hamilton expertly balances the page-turning detection with the story of a hypocritical society where women, whether they are scullery maids or orphans, rarely get to make their own decisions." (Publishers Weekly)

To prejudice

I like this reader, and I am all for strong female characters but the very out matched victimized women to almost every male being horrible is not good. I have a mother and a sister who were raped by an uncle, one at age three.. repeatedly. It happens more then anyone wants to admit, however, there are good men around. My brother Father, brother in law .. moreover the heroine is far to full of herself. Her brother an idiot. Actually the whole story is weak. The end far to rushed and deluded

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Mediocre

I like Heather Wilds as a narrator, but I have to say with this story, there were a ton of characters to keep track of and her range of voices was too limited. I had to rewind often to listen to a part because most of the females sounded the same so I became confused.

The story itself was good in concept, but too tedious in execution. I’m a big fan of this genre but I felt like there were a million girls names mentioned and often all at once, so it was hard to keep them straight. The lead has some obvious backstory but it’s only barely hinted at throughout most of the book, and when finally revealed it’s not that shocking. I wanted to like this story but it was very average for the theme. The ending was also just not good. Seems like they edited out the actual ending and this was what remained.

If there’s another book in the series, it’s a maybe for me.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Most irritating reader

Deadpan, halting and in no way lyrical .... she does do accents well, but the rest is so frustrating to read ... It was so distracting that it was difficult to decide if I liked the book or not.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good for fanatic feminists

The actual story was good, if not well thought out and told. Too much of it came forward in great bursts of revelation. The rest of the book speaks to how horrible, chauvinist, lecherous, incestuous and despoiled men are in the 19th century. Every time the author sat down to write it was the same rant over and over. By the end I was ready to be done. I will NOT be reading another of her books. Concentrate on story and not your personal vendettas and grievances in life. It's not that you're wrong, but the same refrain without growth, resolution and appeal is tiring.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful