The Adventuress: A Lady Emily Mystery
Written by Tasha Alexander
Narrated by Bianca Amato
4/5
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About this audiobook
In The Adventuress, the next entry in the New York Times bestselling series by Tasha Alexander, Lady Emily Hargreaves travels to the south of France where an apparent suicide may be something far more sinister
Emily and husband Colin have come to the French Riviera for what should be a joyous occasion - the engagement arty of her lifelong friend Jeremy, Duke of Bainbridge, and Amity Wells, an American heiress. But the merrymaking is cut short with the shocking death of one of the party in an apparent suicide. Not convinced by the coroner's verdict, Emily must employ all of her investigative skills to discover the truth and avert another tragedy.
Tasha Alexander
When not reading, Tasha Alexander can be found hard at work on her next book featuring Emily Ashton.
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Lady Emily Mysteries
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Titles in the series (11)
Behind the Shattered Glass: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Counterfeit Heiress: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Terrible Beauty: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Uneasy Lies the Crown: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Adventuress: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Heart of Florence: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death in St. Petersburg: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the Shadow of Vesuvius: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Secrets of the Nile: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Cold Highland Wind: A Lady Emily Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Star of the East: A Lady Emily Christmas Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for The Adventuress
23 ratings11 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Emily and her dashing husband, Colin Hargreaves, are solving another mystery. Someone is determined to let loose everyone's dark secrets, and ostracize them in society. The crimson paint dashed on front doors carries similar symbology as Hawthorne's red "A." But when murder strikes after a front door has been painted, the crimson paint suddenly takes on a more dastardly meaning. Will Lady Emily and Colin be able to solve the mystery in time? Especially, when their front door gets splashed with red paint?
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I did enjoy this installment up until a point — suffragette action, our old gang of characters back together (although I missed the French set), included a satisfyingly cerebral treasure hunt puzzle, however I was sincerely disappointed that the only person of color turned out to be the bad guy due to frustrated ambitions, and Colin’s still an untrustworthy fellow. Lame.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SO much better than the last one. Emily has stopped wallowing and is almost the same character I grew fond of in the first two books. She's still a bit more obedient than I'd like, but I have to remember this is the Victorian age and no wife would get away with telling her husband to pull his head out of his ass. Jeremy and Ivy are back in this book too. Ivy doesn't do much for me either way, but I do love Jeremy's wit and silliness. The author inserts journal entries from Ivy throughout the chapters that honestly added nothing to the story for me. She did this in her last book, using Emily's mother-in-law's journal, and that worked as a way of getting to know the woman in a way we wouldn't have realistically been able to by relying on the narrative. But here... meh. The plot though... the plot was good. I thoroughly enjoyed this story line and found it extremely relevant given society's re-discovered fondness for public shaming. The mystery behind who was behind it all was done well enough; I neither knew who the culprit was nor was I surprised when it was revealed. The motivation was rather Machiavellian in the end and I enjoyed it. This one has restored my enjoyment in the series; there are assuredly better examples of its kind out there, but so far this series is holding its own just fine.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reading historical fiction like this always makes me glad I did not find myself by accident of birth growing up in a society like what existed among the elite in 1800s England. Sexist books, as readers of my reviews may have caught on by now, bug me, but this book is drawing attention to and poking holes in sexism, rather than promoting and perpetuating it. So, while I was bristling at the way women were expected to act and appear in the world of this book, so was the protagonist. The solution to the mystery of the vandalism and murder in this story seemed a bit unsupported, enough that I actually don't remember without looking it up again who the villain was. It didn't make enough sense because the villain was not well enough developed as a character, I think, though I liked the solution to the second kidnapping a lot.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Someone painting the front doors of the rich and later revealing their shameful secrets, puts Emily and her husband back in harms way and on the Queens payroll. Once again Alexander nicely balances the historical elements of suffrage and Victorian England with a mystery element.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not my favorite of the series, but overall a good read. Compared to the last few Lady Emily plots, this one was very subdued to the point of almost being boring. Not much action, and a lot of Lady Emily taking the back seat and staying home while Colin was out having all the adventures. I am hoping that Lady Emily picks up the pace in any future books, as she is at her best when being impulsive and headstrong.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Emily & her husband Colin are back in London from their travels. During a ball at Lady Londonderry's, Colin gets word that a highly respected businessman has been burned to death in his office. The dead man's Fiancée, begins to receive threatening notes requesting that she hand over that which he supposedly gave her. When she is unable to produce the item(s), she is kidnapped and eventually found dead.At the same time: society people are finding their doors & porches painted red by a mysterious person and their dirty secrets revealed to society; Emily attends a group of politically minded society mavens who are working to secure the vote for women; a judgmental gossip monger delights in racking up the muck; and an eccentric society maven is also kidnapped.Together Colin, Emily, Jeremy, & Emily's close friend Ivy work to solve the crimes and exposing fraud in high-up places.This book was better written than several previous ones. There were not as many distasteful characters and thankfully Emily's mother was mostly absent. The idea of ciphers via book & museum catalogs was interesting, as was the idea of housing within factories for the poor & handicapped.What I didn't care for was the use of Ivy's journal entries, I found those boring; one or two would have been enough, but they continued through until the end when Ivy admitted her guilty secret.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5B - O - R - I - N - G. Someone is splashing red paint on the doors of London's society indicating some shameful secrets in the house. Because it was an audio book there were long stretches of blah-de-blah talk about talk about manners, port, cognac and men and women's places and sensibilities. Did enjoy their searching for clues in the British Museum.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Such a waste of time. Poor writing, unbelievable dialogue, unconvincing in every way from beginning to end.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Back in London after her adventures in Normandy, Emily is settling down to enjoy the delights of the London Season. But all is not well, at a Ball Colin intervenes to break up a fight, caused by the scandalous revelation about the fiancée of one of the participants. This is the first of many scandals that overcome London high society all presaged by the daubing of red paint on the family homes of those involved. Colin has also been called in to investigate the murder of a well-known businessman and when his distraught fiancée starts to receive threatening letters demanding the return of something her fiancée gave her, Emily joins the investigation. There is a dark heart to this instalment, the initial murder is followed by a number of deaths as the front steps of one after another society family are daubed. Emily also gets a first-hand experience of how the London working class really live, although it doesn’t seem to drive her to become a social campaigner as expected, although she does try and help those she encounters. A great addition to the series, its nice to see Emily and Colin back in London amongst their friends and family – Colin’s tussles with Lady Bromley are particularly fun. Alexander also has a lot of fun with her character, she introduces Emily to the concept of Woman’s Suffrage, unsurprisingly Emily embraces the idea and sets off to find out which MPs would be sympathetic to the idea.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5There’s something fun about discovering a new to me author and when I finish the new find, I’m always happy to know more is waiting for me. This is how I felt with A Crimson Warning. I enjoyed the book and learning it is part of a series made me happy to know I would once more have the chance to peek in on Lady Emily’s Victorian London.The season begins and Lady Emily is looking forward to the balls, her involvement in lobbying for the right to vote, and of course time with her favorite Greek books. At one of the season’s first events, Lady Emily is happily dancing away the evening with her husband Colin looking for an opportunity to sneak out so they can spend some time alone when a fight breaks out among two men. It turns out an affair has been exposed and the two are arguing over ladies at the party. Suddenly, Colin, an agent of the crown, is called away on urgent business. Emily heads home with friends to discuss the eventful evening. When Colin arrives it is with sad news --- a well-known business man has been murdered. His fiancée is devastated but it’s when she starts receiving threatening notes from the person who claims to have killed her soon-to-be husband, that Emily and Colin start investigating. Days later, red paint is found splashed on the homes of some of London’s most well-to-do. The paint is a warning and shortly after secrets are revealed leaving some in London to revel in the disclosures, and others to fear for their lives and what will be revealed about them. When two of society’s ladies are kidnapped, the season that held so much promise for fun, is now filled with fear.Lady Emily is far from the standard lady of the day. While she enjoys the pleasures of the season, it’s her work lobbying for the women’s right to vote that riles her mother, a more straight-forward Victorian lady, to no end. She’s also smart and extremely well-educated which keeps her highly involved in her husband’s affairs with the crown. And more so, he’s willing to keep her involved even when others think he’s wrong to do so. Their relationship is certainly more open than most at the time and that’s one of the reasons this story is fun. There is romance too but it’s not overwhelming and blends nicely in with the story. As a non-romance reader, I was slightly worried that it would overtake the story and I was happily surprised with the balance that was struck.While I enjoyed Colin and Lady Emily’s investigation, what I enjoyed even more was the setting. Alexander does a wonderful job with the details creating interesting ladies and a picture of Victorian England that is easy to be swept up in. I do wish Lady Emily’s mother played a larger role in this book --- she was quite the interesting character and obviously one very different from Emily. It would have been fun to see more of their interactions.As a reader of a lot of historical fiction, this is one author I’ll be returning to for a dose of fun mixed with a great historical setting. Alexander does a fantastic job of weaving together interesting characters with a mystery to keep you wondering what secrets are buried deep in the closets of high society. If you like a little mystery mixed with your historical fiction, Alexander doesn’t disappoint.