Lady Violet Investigates

The Lady Violet Mysteries, Book 1

By: Grace Burrowes

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Lady Violet Belmaine emerges from two years of mourning less than enthusiastic about resuming her place in Polite Society. She’s talked into attending a country house party by her French physician friend, Hugh St. Sevier, only to find that the house party guests are preyed upon by a mysterious thief.

Among the guests is Sebastian MacHeath, Marquess of Dunkeld. Violet once considered Sebastian her closest confidant, but war and the passing years have changed him. Nonetheless, when Sebastian’s valet, another veteran, comes under suspicion, Violet, St. Sevier, and Sebastian must work together to discover the true culprit, lest an innocent man be sent to the gallows for crimes he did not commit.

©2021 Grace Burrowes (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Silly but fun

Characters were typical, but grew on me as the story developed. The resolution was ridiculous but tidy. And I am very much looking forward to the sequels.

Highly Enjoyable!

Excellent narration of a novel by an excellent author! Witty humor, interesting characters, and writing that satisfies an English professor's standards.

A good start to a “new to me” series

I enjoyed this “new to me” character from Grace Burrowes. Though I figured out the culprit early on (I think this comes from reading so many of Grace’s novels) getting to the denouement was still quite entertaining. I certainly plan to read the next book in the series.

Read this book

I enjoyed the characters and the story. I didn't care for the narrator. I found her performance of Lady Violet too strident and a little too imperious for the 25-year-old widow. She also sounded older than the young woman. Her voice began to wear on me. I will read the next book in the series.

Fun!

This could have been a fabulous book, but it seemed rushed and lacked plot. I did enjoy it, though!

Enjoyable and well done

Great story, good twists and turns, and of course well written.

I enjoyed the narration. Quality female voice was perfect for the main character. The speed was also to my liking.

Mystery for sure

Not a romance. Wasn’t that exciting. Too many heroes. You didn’t know who she would end up with. Premise of mystery was kind of confusing. I wouldn’t listen again.

Loved the book so much I’m binging the series!

This narrator is perfection. The heroine sounds even better than I imagined her, the male voices are distinct from one another while still sounding male & the French character has just enough accent without being difficult to understand. Best of all, I forget I’m listening & get completely lost in the story without being thrown out.

And what a story! Historically accurate without anachronisms and wonderfully complex characters that suck you right in. An excellent mystery, the tension builds, and these people act like grown ups who’ve actually dealt with life and loss and disappointment. The descriptions are wonderful without getting in the way of the story, so that I feel like I’m enjoying the food with them (or not, in the case of the stale bun), smelling a man’s distinctive cologne or feeling the heroine’s impotent fury.

I absolutely adore this series and I’m binging as fast as the audiobooks are released & I can afford extra credits. I can tell I’ll be relistening simply because the world and people drawn by this author is so rich that I’ll want to experience it more than once. I love that she’s written a strong woman who can be resourceful without being any less a lady in every sense of the word. And the male characters are so intriguing. Strong without being overbearing & very much true to the time period. Fabulous entertainment & don’t be surprised if you find you’ve driven past your exit if you’re listening in the car.

Fun Regency Mystery

I disliked the lack of romance, rekindled courtship & or missed opportunity to pursue a love match. The story is so mystery oriented that it misses the parallel track of a rekindled love relationship. The Randal/Marquess adversity lacked mutual acknowledgment & resolution. The valet’s story is incomplete.

Great central characters, thin story

I love the author and the interactions of the central characters is delightful, but the story is forced and unpleasant leading to a highly improbable ending. I won't return it, but I won't read it again.

Plot synopsis: Violet, the heroine, is invited to a house party where a series of thefts leads to the host's unpleasant family secrets. Violet solves all in the last two chapters after a lot of boring improbable plot that fails to make you care about anyone involved other than the 3 central characters.

Example: A beaten, naked man shows up at a ball; no one is overly concerned. No one wonders how he got in. A few hand waves later, he is a valet. Really??