A FATAL ILLUSION by Anna Lee Huber

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A FATAL ILLUSION
Anna Lee Huber

Reviewed by Make Kay
Posted June 20, 2023

The latest Lady Darby historical murder mystery by Anna Lee Huber is A FATAL ILLUSION, book number eleven. I enjoy both of Huber's historical mystery series, the Lady Darby Mysteries set in Georgian England and Scotland, and her Verity Kent Mysteries set in 1920s post-war England. Both of these series feature engaging and intrepid female sleuths who capably investigate murders with their spouses and buck societal expectations for how a lady should behave. Huzzah! Huber writes strong female protagonists who have a more hidden and softer side for their families. Kiera Gage, Lady Darby is a widow who was married to a now-deceased anatomist who abused her and forced her to illustrate his questionable dissections. Her fortitude and intelligence now stand her in good stead in her current marriage to Sebastian Gage, a lovely man who is an inquiry agent. Kiera uses her smarts and her medical knowledge to assist her husband in solving mysteries, and they have been successful in tracking down many a murderer. Kiera and Gage now have an infant daughter, and Huber clearly brings her own maternal experiences to bear in beautifully describing the loving little family. The alternating domestic aspects of the series combine refreshingly with the more chilling murder portions to create a full-bodied reading experience. In A FATAL ILLUSION, Lady Darby and Gage rush to the side of Gage's father, Lord Gage, who is left injured from a nearly-fatal attack on the father as he traveled to Scotland. Gage and his father have a strained relationship following Gage's discovery of a half-brother that Lord Gage has been concealing, so there is much delicious family intrigue as the backdrop for the crime detection. There is something mysterious and sinister in the sleepy village where Lord Gage is recuperating, however, and repeated attacks against Lady Darby and her loved ones threaten the investigators as they try to catch the murderous highwaymen. There is plenty to delight in here. Charming domesticity goes side-by-side with perilous sleuthing and satisfying suspense. Huber's A FATAL ILLUSION is sure to please historical murder mystery fans who enjoy family drama and gentle domestic details in addition to the joys of red herrings and crafty villains.

SUMMARY

New parents Lady Kiera Darby and Sebastian Gage look forward to introducing Sebastian’s father to his granddaughter, but instead find themselves investigating an attempt on his life...

Yorkshire, England. August 1832. Relations between Sebastian Gage and his father have never been easy, especially since the discovery that Lord Gage has been concealing the existence of an illegitimate son. But when Lord Gage is nearly fatally attacked on a journey to Scotland, Sebastian and Kiera race to his side. Given the tumult over the recent passage of the Reform Bill and the Anatomy Act, in which Lord Gage played a part, Sebastian wonders if the attack could be politically motivated.

But something suspicious is afoot in the sleepy village where Lord Gage is being cared for. The townspeople treat Sebastian and Kiera with hostility when it becomes clear they intend to investigate, and rumors of mysterious disappearances and highway robberies plague the area. Lord Gage’s survival is far from assured, and Sebastian and Kiera must scramble to make the pieces fit before a second attempt at murder is more successful than the first.