Miss Dido Kent's punishment for refusing to marry a stuffy clergyman with six children in need of motherly love is to play companion to her even more quarrelsome and exacting Aunt Manners. Aunt Manners drags Dido along for a trip to her childhood home, Charcombe Manor. Dido can't help but notice that there are some strange going-ons at Charcombe. Miss Letitia Verney has disappeared and no one seems all that inclined to search for her. Even stranger are the mysterious lights that appear in an abandoned wing of the house, a crying ghost that keeps guests awake at night, and a little room that locks from the outside with initials etched into the stone. When a man with information about the young Miss Verney is murdered, Dido must piece together these unusual clues quickly to find the missing girl and save the life of an innocent man who will hang for a murder he didn't commit.
A PLACE OF CONFINEMENT by Anna Dean delivers an engaging mystery with Austen-like prose in this delightful historical mystery. From the very first words, Dean draws them into the world and mind of a spinster in 1807. This is the first Dido Kent mystery I've read, but Dean's prose style feels so familiar and comforting to me that I slipped effortlessly into this world and into the fantastic mind of her main character. I love how Dean manages to blend the historical concerns of the day with a lead female character who shows remarkably modern sensibilities. Dido doesn't feel like she's a modern character transplanted into a historical setting. She's truly a product of her time while she doesn't quite fit the mold of that time.
In the best traditions of the female amateur detective, Miss Dido Kent's curiosity and intelligence allow her to see the world as others don't. She understands the importance of personal relationships and the at times illogical actions triggered by strong emotion.
A PLACE OF CONFINEMENT is a fantastic addition to the historical mystery genre. Dean's confident and lyrical prose coupled with the richly detailed setting make her an author I will continue to follow.
The inquisitive Miss Dido Kent returns in A Place of
Confinement to elucidate the mysterious disappearance of a
young woman in the fourth installment of Anna Deanβs
charming Regency era series
The dependably sharp Miss Dido Kent is suffering her sister-
in-lawβs attempts to marry her off to the ghastly clergyman
Doctor Prowdlee. Dido, however, is determined to refuse him,
as well as his abominable side whiskers. As punishment she
is sent to accompany her hypochondriacβand quite wealthyβ
Aunt Manners on a trip to Charcombe Manor. The family hopes
that revisiting her childhood home will keep Aunt Manners in
good spirits, and Dido in her good graces.
However, upon their arrival itβs clear to Dido that there is
much more at stake than her auntβs favor. The rich heiress
Letitia Verney has disappeared while visiting Charcombe, and
Mr. Tom Lomax is suspected of abducting her. Dido is
inclined to believe in his innocence, but how is she to
explain by what method a young lady could enter through the
front door and not appear on the other side? And this isnβt
the only enigma that the Elizabethan manor holds: there is a
deserted wing in which lights mysteriously appear at night,
a crying ghost which keeps visitors awake, and memories of
old family quarrels.
When the senior Mr. Lomax comes to town to defend his son,
the mystery intensifiesβand so does Didoβs romantic life.
With lives and reputations on the line, itβs up to Dido to
put the pieces together to save the Lomaxes and find the
vanished young Miss Verney. In this captivating fourth
installment of the Dido Kent series, readers will find more
of the rich characters, meticulous historical detail, and
masterful suspense theyβve come to expect from Anna Dean.
No excerpt available.
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