As the Lady Harleigh mysteries continue in this fifth book in series, we find Frances' putting on the finishing touches for her impending nuptials. Her brother Alonzo has become rather smitten with Madeline Connor, an American robber baron's daughter, and has requested that she and her family be added to the guest list. What's a few more mouths to feed among friends? Furthermore, Frances' mother has invited her American robber baron friend, Bainbridge to the wedding festivities as well. Sadly, both Bainbridge and Mr. Connor are in a bitter rivalry as they are vying for ownership of the same project. Fur is definitely going to fly. That is, until the first body winds up dead a stone's throw from the wedding reception and Alonzo's being held on murder charges. So much for a much deserved wedding trip to Cannes for George and Frances. There'll be no peace until the true culprit is found and our happy duo are on it.

Ms. Freeman has again spun a wonderful tale, poking fun at the social mores of British aristocratic behavior and ambitious deep-pocketed Americans. The suspects pile up quickly providing the reader with lots of red herrings. The character development is good throughout and the mise-en-scène effectively carries the reader to the posh London neighborhoods of a hundred years ago. Well done, Ms. Freeman! ( )

A bit more character development was needed, especially for Ivo. Otherwise an interesting look at the Gilded Age and the dollar brides. ( )

Frances, the Countess of Harleigh, has finally arrived at her wedding day where she and George Hazelton will tie the knot. Getting to this day wasn't easy since her mother has been in residence for 4 months and is constantly finding fault and making changes to the arrangements and guest list including adding a couple that is feuding with other guests. So it's not that surprising that at the wedding luncheon a body turns up. What is a problem is that Frances' brother, Alonzo, has been arrested for the murder. George takes up the gauntlet to represent Alonzo putting their honeymoon on hold.

The twists and turns and red herrings were strewn throughout giving the reader a chance to figure out why and who while at the same time cheering for the newlyweds. ( )

Poor Frances (Countess Harleigh) has spent a miserable last four months. Her mother came over from America to plan her sister’s wedding - and then stayed on to plan Frances’s wedding to George. Frances’s mother is best taken in small doses - but so is all of her family. Ah! But tomorrow she and George will be wed, and while they are off in the south of France for their wedding trip, Frances’s family will head back to America.

Sigh - those best-laid plans . . . The wedding was wonderful with so much love and joy, then on to the wedding breakfast at her brother-in-law's house. Frances and George were giddy with happiness - until . . . Yes, Frances’s brother Alonzo was arrested for murder. It seems that Alonza was murdering the neighbor next door while everyone else was celebrating Frances and George. Or was he?

So, there goes their lovely trip because they absolutely must stay and help Alonzo. They don’t believe, even for a second, that Alonzo murdered Mr. Cooper - even if he was found standing over the body with a knife in his hand. It seems Alonzo was very interested in courting Mr. Cooper’s daughter, but the nasty, scheming, Mr. Cooper wanted a title in the family. When another body is added to the count everybody is looking for motives, connections, and murderers.

This was an excellently written, well-plotted, and well-delivered mystery accompanied by a lovely romance between two bright, intelligent, witty people you just have to love. The only reason I didn’t rate this book a 5-star read is that one of the characters was heir to a title and he was threatened with being disinherited and having the title passed to one of his other brothers. You CANNOT do that and it annoys me when an author tries to use that ploy. Two minutes of research would tell you that the laws of primogeniture don’t work that way and it couldn’t be done. He could be disinherited and all of the non-entailed monies could go to his brothers, but the title, entailed properties, and entailed monies would go to the firstborn legitimate son. Anyway, it is a well-done story other than that and I do definitely recommend it.

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator, Sarah Zimmerman. Her voice was very pleasant, and you could hear the humor coming through. I could just picture my version of Frances with that exact voice. Her range of voices for the characters was well done and I loved how George’s frustration at not having any alone time with Frances came right through the voice.

I definitely recommend this book - and this audio version. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. ( )

Frances and George's wedding day has arrived but of course there is a murder and the main suspect is Frances' brother, Alonzo. He is quite enamoured of Madeline Connor who according to her father is promised to Duke Fitzwater. Frances and George postpone their honeymoon to clear Alonzo of Madeline's father murder. When Fitzwater's father is murdered the suspect list widens. Plenty of family drama and hardly anytime for the newlyweds to be alone. Looking forward to the next installment. ( )