A Nefarious Engagement: A Regency Cozy

Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries, Book 4

De: Lynn Messina

Narrado por: Jill Smith

Having long abandoned any hope of making a match, 26-year-old Beatrice Hyde Clare finds herself a little overwhelmed by her engagement to the Duke of Kesgrave. Cloying society matrons clamor for her attention while her aunt reels off an endless list of servants she will have to oversee. Even the most intrepid female would quake at the prospect of managing eight footmen!

Fortunately, Bea knows the perfect distraction - an intriguing mystery - and pays a call on the Countess of Abercrombie, who had promised her that very thing only the evening before.

But her ladyship is reluctant to discuss the details with a newly minted duchess-to-be, and it dawns on Bea that the investigation cuts closer to home than she could have ever imagined because this time the murder victims are her own mother and father, who had died 20 years before in a seemingly straightforward boating accident.

Alas, nothing is straightforward, and as Bea digs into her past, she discovers with growing horror that she has no more idea how to be a daughter than she does a duchess.

©2019 Lynn Messina (P)2019 Lynn Messina

Love this series

This is the best of the series. Very emotional and great mystery. I highly recommend it.

Love this series!

I’m really loving this series! Can’t wait to get to the next one! Two thumbs up!!

Does this series have to end!!!????

I have loved, loved, loved every single book in this series. Bea's growth and her relationship with her Duke has been a joy to behold. I love their interactions; the two play off each other so well.

This final installment of their relationship had all kinds of special. Bea is on the search to find out what happened to her parents. Along the way, she discovers how much she loves the Duke, how much he loves her, and what her awful aunt and uncle actually means to her. This was storytelling and regency romances at its best.

I cannot say enough about the narrator. It actually takes a very special talent to be able to voice regency novels. This narrator brought the special.

The story end was very dramatic and very much Bea. It was a fitting end to a very wonderful character. It's just too bad the story had to end.

A Nefarious Engagement

It took me a while to get into the book but once things started moving I got really engrossed in the story. I have read the other three in this series and loved them and I am glad to say that this book does not disappoint.
If you like romance with a mystery then this is for you.

Not as good as the previous books, yet still solid

I didn’t enjoy this story as much as the first two books—and to me, the third book wasn’t as enjoyable as the first two—yet it was enjoyable nonetheless. I suppose the author has to give us a more well rounded view of Bea (though why Bea believed anything Aunt Vera said about her parents is beyond me). Kesgrave isn’t featured in this book as much as he was previously, though he came on the scene when it mattered.
Overall, a solid read. I’m going to read the next book in the series.

Waiting with baited breath

hoping this series will be continue in like the Amelia Peabody and Mrs. pollyfax series.....Banter of Jane Austin and simple mysteries allows for entertainment without to much brain strain.

another wonderful Hyde Claire mystery

The Duke and Miss Hyde Claire wonderfully solve the mystery of her parents death and negotiate their engagement

Truly Enjoyable

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinion expressed herein are my own.

This is the fourth book of the Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries. It is a standalone book with no cliffhanger ending and you can read it without having read any of the prior books in the series. There are references to events which occurred in prior books but the author kindly provided quick summaries to bring you up-to-date (or remind you if it's been a while since you've read the prior books). However, if you are considering starting the series with this book, I would strongly recommend you start with the first book in the series (A Brazen Curiosity) so you can fully appreciate the character interactions and development.

I really enjoy this series! This book starts soon after Bea and the Duke have gotten engaged. Bea, while so assertive in her investigations, is still insecure about her relationship with the Duke. It was wonderful how she slowly worked through those insecurities and put her desires in the forefront. You also get to learn about Bea's familial history as she investigates the death of her parents. For the most part, Bea does investigate on her own but this also helps Bea to put her own relationship with the Duke in perspective and allow Bea to grow. While I love the Bea-Duke dynamic and their wonderful conversations, I understood why the Duke was MIA for part of the book ( I did miss him though). I really enjoy this series and hope the investigations conducted by Bea and the Duke continue on.

The narrator of this book, Jill Smiith, is spot on. She is the same narrator for all the books in the series.

Somewhat dark, but engrossing

Beatrice is navigating the tricky waters of engagement to the Duke of Kendrick as she pursues clues about her parents' deaths during her childhood.

The story is well-written and the plot engrossing. Beatrice's character development continues as she swings back and forth from the introverted ugly duckling to the young woman of confidence in herself and disdain for society. I enjoyed her growth and hope we won't ever see her totally at ease in the exalted world she's about to marry into.

Listeners should expect this book to be darker than the others so far, as Bea is facing terrible news about her parents' lives before they died and about her aunt's and uncle's reasons for their ill treatment of her.

I look forward to the next in the series as Bea and a great cast of characters return.

Best one yet in the series

The author did not recount too much of previous accounts like she did in the two previous books. This story had twists and turns and left the audience wondering how Beatrice could solve this mystery. Excellent turns with the Duke to make their relationship more realistic.