As a favor to her dear friend, Ivy, Lady Emily Ashton
attends a weekend affair hosted by Lord Basil Fortescue, an
unpleasant man with powerful political ties. Ivy's husband,
Robert Brandon, was Lord Fortescue's protégé until a
terrible argument has Lord Fortescue dismissing Robert.
Shortly thereafter, Lord Fortescue is found murdered with
the evidence pointing to Robert. With the police assured of
his guilt, Ivy begs Emily, who has had success in the past
with solving mysteries, to find the killer.
The clues lead Emily to an anarchist in Vienna. Colin
Hargreaves, Emily's fiancé and a covert operative, is
involved in a case and cannot accompany her. In Vienna,
Emily reluctantly asks Colin's former lover, Countess von
Lange for help. The countess wants Colin back and
instigates trouble and doubt into Emily's relationship.
Emily wants to trust Colin, but she believes past love
always remains in part of your heart.
Emily copes with the political intrigues that are abundant
in Vienna and painstakingly works to find evidence to save
Robert from the gallows. Colin appears unexpectedly and
helps Emily in her investigation. For the first time, Emily
sees the reality of Colin's work. The equality Emily
strives for in their relationship is no longer abstract and
comes at an emotional cost. As their cases intertwine,
Emily and Colin have death threats made against them,
making time of the essence in discovering the anarchist's
plot and exposing the killer.
Ms. Alexander's latest Lady Emily mystery is rich in
historical detail as she captures the complex social and
political climate in Vienna. Her insightful characters
understand their human flaws and the compromises they must
make. Ms. Alexander weaves fictional characters with the
real historical ones in this cleverly plotted and
suspenseful mystery.
At her friend Ivy's behest, Lady Emily Ashton reluctantly
agrees to attend a house party at the country estate of
Lord Basil Fortescue, a man she finds as personally odious
as he is politically powerful. But if she was expecting
Lord Fortescue to be the greatest of her problems, she was
wrong. Her host has also included Kristiana von Lange
among the guests, an Austrian countess who had once been
linked romantically with Emily's fiancé, Colin Hargreaves.
Both Lord Fortescue and the countess take great delight in
tormenting Emily, but petty malice turns deadly serious
when Lord Fortescue is found murdered, and his protégé,
Robert Brandon - Ivy’s husband - is arrested for the crime.
Emily’s efforts to clear Robert’s name take her to Vienna.
Glittering balls, sordid back streets, chic cafes, and even
the Imperial palace yield fragmentary clues, but not until
Emily engages a notorious anarchist in a game of wits does
the shocking truth begin to emerge: The price of
exonerating Robert can only be paid by placing Colin in
deadly peril. And the one way Emily can ensure his safety
is to strike an unthinkable bargain with her nemesis, the
Countess von Lange.
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