This is a very interesting idea, but I thought that the author had trouble with characterizations. This is a historical novel/mystery, as opposed to being a Regency romance/mystery.

In the Georgian Era, including the Regency, there were numerous Africans, and descendants of Africans in England and it's colonies, brought there for various reasons. This book focuses on a mixed race woman, Abigail Carrington Monroe, Lady Worthing. The first book in the series, it alludes back to cases that Abigail has previously solved. One of them, in which she proved the innocence of James Monroe, Lord Worthing, brought her a marriage proposal. Her background is revealed in small pieces, so I am not certain, but I am assuming that her Scottish father, a financier, lived in Jamaica where he married her enslaved or formerly enslaved mother, and they and a number of associates then moved to England. The idea is very interesting, but I don't think that the author has done too well at building some of her characters, although others are well done charming.

The prologue begins with the story of the first victim, Abigail's neighbor in Westminster Juliet Henderson, the beautiful and vivacious wife of a naval office and physician who is back from ten years at sea. Although it is in the third person, it portrays her thoughts and actions. She is promiscuously unfaithful, sleeping with all sorts of men including her servants, which would probably have scandalized the Ton, even though they could be accepting of discreet affairs for married women. The prologue does not paint a very flattering picture of Juliet to my mind, Some quotes: "[...] Juliet loves to provoke [...", "Juliet has learned fast, which means she always takes more than what's owed. Always more." "Fooling an honorable man into matrimony is the least of a pretty woman's sins." She and her husband have violent arguments, which he later tells us were staged, for some reason. Her husband, Stapleton Henderson has gotten her an apartment in Cheapside, and gives her a generous allowance, but she is back at his house to see what she can steal before she leaves for good with a lover. She is later found murdered on Abigail's property.. Beginning with the visitation before her funeral, we are supposed to believe that Juliet was a very kind and caring person, even to other women, beloved of her sister-in-law and her servants.. (We know that she was kind to men.) This switch never works for me.

Then we come to Abigail, whose husband is also at sea for years. Her great passion is helping to revive the faltering abolition movement. The Haytian Revolution has frightened a lot of former white sympathizers, and the death of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger lost the movement it's most important political supporter. (It would be another year before the slave trade was abolished, and 27 years before Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act) Her other is hoping to reconcile with her beloved sister Dinah who became estranged by Abigail's marriage.

Abigail, we are told is very intelligent and logical, which has enabled her to solve some crimes, but she doesn't seem to have a lot of sense - she's sort of horror-movie dumb.. Although she suspects Stapleton of murdering his wife, she keeps going over to his house, frequently at night and alone, to demand that he tell her if he is innocent. She demands to be let in even when he doesn't want her there, refuses to leave when asked, even though she has gotten her answer. One time, it is so late that he is only wearing a loosely tied robe, which doesn't faze her. Vanessa Riley is obviously trying to create an erotic frisson - perhaps Lord Worthing is going to drown in the next book. It got to the point that I thought that if I were Stapleton, and given to violence, I'd respond to her latest demand by punching her in the nose. She confronts other suspects when she's by herself, as well. To be fair, there seems to be a certain demand for this type of thriller-lite, judging by how often it crops up, so some readers would do well to ignore my opinion in this regard.

After her first emissary is shot, by Juliet's brother, she and Stapleton ride out to the brother's farm, only lightly armed - Stapleton claiming that he can control his brother-in-law, So they take a relatively pointless trip out there and get shot at, as well as threatened by neighbors with pitch forks when they are taken for tax collectors. They do incidentally collect information from another source, but that's more or less accidental.

There are a number of scenes that are very well done, even clever, and which show real writing ability. Of course, I can't talk about them without ruining the effect. The characterizations of the secondary characters are generally good.

There are a couple of historical errors: "Elizabeth lies in eternal sleep with her sister, Mary, whom she executed." Elizabeth's sister was Mary I (Tudor) Queen of England, who died of natural causes and from who Elizabeth inherited the throne. Elizabeth executed Mary (Stuart, originally Stewart), Queen of Scots.her first cousin once removed, almost thirty years after her sister's death.

I also don't think that servants were typically given a style, e.g., Miss, Mr., except for the housekeeper who was always known as Mrs.

I think, that if Vanessa Riley wants to explore the issues of race and class faced by people like Abigail and her connections, she needs to get them out in society a bit more. ( )

Disappointed in this new series by Vanessa Riley. I read The Island Queen last year and found it captivating. But here, the author had a thin plot, picked a time period and then just kept layering detail of clothing and dogs and transportation and politics and...
I found it tough going to wade through all this detail.

There are many fascinating Regency period romances if that is what one is looking for, but the publisher did no favors labeling this a mystery. ( )

It’s Hard to Kill Purple

Vanessa Riley writes a classic historical mystery filled with drama and danger in Murder in Westminster. Lady Abigail Worthing wants nothing more than to find her wayward sister, and focus on attending secret abolition meetings while her husband Lord Worthing is out to sea. When a dispute with her quarrelsome neighbor Stapleton Henderson, concerning her rambunctious terroir Teacup, reveals the murder of his estranged wife. Juliet Henderson may have been an intolerable flirt, but was loved by almost everyone. Abbie will have to face and learn to use her second sight to solve this, before she is next.

At first Abbie is reluctant to get involved, and unwilling to acknowledge her second sight as anything but an inconvenience. She struggles with her current loneliness, and worry about her sister Dinah Carrington. Vanessa Riley gives Abbie all the high spirits of a Jamaican and Scottish heritage with all the “logic and stubbornness” she needs to solve a mystery. Abbie is constantly evasive with what she does or does not know, often inpatient, and a touch melodramatic with those around her. Which Vanessa Riley emphasizes with her to the point writing style. All of which create a smart, and exciting character that is a fun contrast to Stapleton Henderson’s darkly sarcastic character.

Henderson is full of contradictions both wanting to financially support his wayward wife, while letting her divorce him. He is determined to make Abbie help, even if it means accusing her of murder. Both desperate to find out who murdered his wife, while being secretive and misleading. Together they uncover a scandalous plot, and a dark secret. When everyone is hiding a secret, finding a murderer will prove to be easier said than done. ( )

Lady Worthington is the main character of a new series of historical mysteries. I love historical fiction and this one is set in London during the early 1800s. Secret abolitionist meetings are part of the plot line and that really sets the time period clearly in the reader's mind. Though slave trading was banned in 1807, the practice of slavery was not abolished until 1833. Abigail is interesting and will be a good lead for the series. Her neighbor Henderson will make a good supporting character, but the rest of the people in her life need more background (before they are killed, like all long running mysteries, right?). The climax was pretty exciting, but some of the lead up got repetitive until each clue was revealed. This will be a good series to follow. ( )

Engaging!

An interesting and puzzling new Regency mystery from Vanessa Riley. I swam about in a maze of questions before deciding to just go with the flow and hope all would be revealed.
Lady Abigail Worthing is wife to absentee sea captain, Captain James Munroe, Lord Worthing
Here’s the thing, she keeps referring to having saved her husband from Newgate, in doing so she somehow lost or was lost to her sister Dinah, and become Baroness Worthing. I’m no closer to this story—did I miss something, or will all be revealed in the next in the series?
Lady Worthington is a woman of color, a Blackamoor with a Jamaican mother and a Scottish father, and has to be careful, too careful, about where she goes and who she sees. There are those like her godfather Mr. Vaughn who keep waiting for the gift of foresight to blossom. Annoying to Abbie.
This time though she sees, as in really there’s a body, the wife of her neighbor dead on the garden between their properties.
Abbie’s also hiding that she secretly supports William Wilberforce and the Clapham set and has evidence from her husband of the despicable and horrendous circumstances slaves are forced to endure. However Wilberforce’s meetings are constrained, secretive even, due to the uprising in Haiti.
Having helped the magistrate Lord Duncan before, she feels duty bound to assist him in his investigations. If only to throw her own innocence into relief.
But then the bodies begin piling up. She unveils the culprit, but we’re left wondering if that’s all there was.
Meanwhile where is her sister Dinah, what exactly happened to have Abbie married to naval captain James Munroe, and when will her husband return from his voyage? There’s many moving parts. Trying to keep all the people and their relationships straight in my head is a challenge, yet still,
Questions remain!

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. ( )