Finally Mrs. Hazelton instead of the Countess of Harleigh, Frances is looking for a way to fill her time while her new husband, George, is on a mission from the British Museum. She finds one in the dowager Viscountess Winstead, who wants Frances to sponsor her niece, Kate, for presentation to the Queen. When Frances visits the family home to meet Kate, she notices Lady Winstead looking extremely frail, and she seems very unaware – almost as if she’s been drugged. As her suspicions grow, the entire family becomes suspects, not just of drugging Lady Winstead, but of the death of her husband, too. With George’s assistance, Frances hopes to save Lady Winstead from a very unpleasant fate.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the gifted copy of this book. I’m leaving this review voluntarily. Ironically, I read this before A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder (apparently NetGalley didn’t want to approve me for that one), which I just recently finished. I didn’t understand a couple of references to the previous book, but it didn’t stop me from understanding or liking this latest installment. I give A Newlywed’s Guide to Fortune and Murder four out of five stars.
It’s nice reviewing multiple books in a series; I feel like I know the characters well enough by now to know what they might and might not do. In this novel, both Frances and George behaved exactly as expected, which I appreciated. I love how Frances observes social convention and is very sensible, but has a very stubborn streak that pushes her to succeed. George allows her a lot of latitude in their relationship and shows her a lot of respect and trust, which I really like. They’re a good team of investigators.
Frances’ voice is really humorous; Freeman is very witty in the way that she writes Frances. Frances does genuinely care about people but also sees their flaws, which allows her to be a mostly-partial investigator and a good judge of people. She wants the best for everyone but also looks at situations realistically. The secondary characters of Frances’ aunt and her beau, Rose, and the servants are great characters that fill the book out well.
The plot of A Newlywed’s Guide to Fortune and Murder was pretty complex; I liked how George and Frances had to work together to solve it even though both of their parts were quite different. As usual, it was quite a cheerful and easygoing read. If you’re looking for an entertaining and light series, The Countess of Harleigh is a good one.