Happy autumn – and almost Thanksgiving for those who celebrate! – everybody! I love reading all year round but as the nights draw in and the clocks change, there is nothing I like better than sitting in my armchair with tea – or wine – and reading. I wanted to share a book with you that I recently had sent to me by Minotaur Books, which I absolutely loved, and I think is the perfect cosy read for the season!

You might remember back in February that I was lucky enough to be part of the cover reveal tour for Celeste Connally‘s Regency-set mystery, Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Lord. As part of that, Minotaur Books and Austenprose PR gifted me a copy of the book for me to review honestly – which you can now find on bookshop shelves! I curled up with it last week to celebrate its publication date (November 14th), and I certainly was not disappointed.

About the Book

When Lady Petra Forsyth loses her beloved fiancé, Emerson, Lord Ingersoll, she declares in front of the whole of London society that she will remain unmarried forever. A woman of independent means, Lady Petra is the only daughter of the fifth Earl of Holbrook, with a circle of good friends – even if her childhood friend Duncan Shawcross is incredibly annoying – and a comfortable living. However, of course, Regency society never loves a woman who doesn’t want to marry, and she begins to be treated with the utmost suspicion.

But when Lady Petra hears that her friend, Lady Gwen Milford, has died suddenly of “melancholia”, her suspicions become aroused. Other women in their social circle – supposedly difficult, supposedly suffering from mental health ailments – are disappearing. When Lady Petra begins to investigate, she starts to wonder: is Gwen truly dead, or is she a prisoner somewhere far more sinister than Petra could ever imagine?

Formidable women

Celeste Connally has managed to hit on two things that I absolutely love: firstly, an intriguing but kind of cosy mystery (in the vain of two of my favourite TV programmes, Endeavour and Midsomer Murders), and secondly, an exploration of the roles and freedoms of women during the early nineteenth century. For Lady Petra, a wealthy heiress in 1815, has a considerable amount of freedom that her elite status affords her, even if bound by social and gender rules alongside that.

Connally does a great job of playing with these rules and freedoms, with Lady Petra enjoying clandestine nights alone with her fiancé before they married, and her best friend Lady Caroline entertaining an affair with a fellow member of the bon ton for her own pleasure. I really enjoyed the character of Petra, and the bonds of female friendship that are shown throughout the book.

Marriage and property

Without spoiling too much, I think Connally also hits on a great plot point through her well-researched inclusion of the control husbands could have over wives. For if a husband was particularly controlling and vindictive during this period, and did not like that his wife had opinions or tried to act independently of him, he could have her committed to an asylum, for she was effectively his property through marriage.

Through a gripping mystery, this book highlights the cruelty of this extreme practice and – I think! – also serves to present many of the reasons why women who could keep independence in this period did.

A little bit of romance…

Though it is not the sole theme of the book, there is a multitude of romantic tension in this novel, as well as flashbacks to Lady Petra and her fiancé before his death. Not only that, but the book ends on the biggest cliffhanger related to the love life of Lady Petra that means I am already chomping at the bit for Connally to write/publish a new installment in what promises to be an exciting new mystery series.

I read this book in just a couple of sittings, putting aside pages and pages without realising as I tried to race through and find out what happened, which, in my book, is the sign of a good mystery. I also liked that Lady Petra did not become a caricature of an “independent woman”, so to speak. I love a feminist historical novel, and this one was populated with a variety of powerful female characters that speak to different positions women occupied in society, with Lady Petra at the heart.

If you fancy reading an excerpt of the book to whet your appetite, Celeste Connally has shared the beginning with Criminal Element, which you can find here. I had such a great time reading it, and, as I say, am desperate for a sequel!

I hope that if you give Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Lord a read, you love it. I’m really pleased to say I have further Regency/Austen-inspired mysteries to share over the next couple of weeks on my blog, so stay tuned for more books!

Thank you to Minotaur Press and Austenprose PR for sending me a copy of this book to review and share on my blog.