A Nefarious Engagement: A Regency Cozy

Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries, Book 4

By: Lynn Messina

Narrated by: Jill Smith

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

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!!

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.

Another Charming Regency Cozy!

Love Bea and Kesgrave and love this series!! Delightful balance of cozy mystery and Regency banter. Please keep them coming on audio...narrator is delightful.

Bea triumphs in love and investigations...........

A Nefarious Engagement is the fourth in this Victorian England cozy mystery, and it really needs to be read as part of the series. All the books feature Beatrice Hyde-Clare and the Duke of Kesgrave, and the relationship between these two amateur detectives, which is the central theme of all the books, continues to develop over the course of the series. The case Bea investigates in this book is closer to her heart than any previous case, and she is continually shocked and appalled at the twists and turns the case takes. Although she has been orphaned from an early age, Beatrice never really knew the circumstances behind her parents' death, or really even anything about their lives or characters. After learning that they had worked as spies right before their deaths, Bea knows she must determine if they were murdered or truly died in an accidental drowning. Her investigation causes her to question everything about her own character and whether or not the Duke will still want to marry her.

For those that worried that the course to marriage would lead this intrepid couple to a staid and boring life, never fear. They are up to their usual antics, and Bea triumphs in both her investigation and her relationship with Kesgrave. I absolutely love Bea and the Duke, and they just get better with each book. A Nefarious Engagement has plenty of comedy from Bea's interaction with her aunt, uncle and cousins as well as several of Kesgrave's staff - whom are scheduled to become her servants in the near future. As usual, Messina builds the romantic tension between Bea and Kesgrave to the point that I was biting my nails, but she had me smiling from ear to ear and at the end. For any cozy mystery lover that enjoys a clean, non-violent, lively mystery, A Nefarious Engagement and the entire series are a must.

Jill Smith reads all the books in this series, and she is the perfect choice. She has a beautiful British accent, and her portrayal of both the spunky Bea and the rather pedantic Kesgrave are superb. Her performance is smooth and flawless, and she adds plenty of emotion and zing to an already fantastic story.

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request in exchange for this honest review.

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.

So charming! Loved it.

Wonderful characters. An easy to listen to fun mystery. I wish there were more to listen to now!

A Satisfying Mystery

I did see the culprit rather early on in this one but watching the delightful banter between Bea and Kesgrave was well worth it.