Digital Reads Reviews

Many thanks to Emma and Damp Pebbles Blog Tours for my spot on this Blog Tour.

A beautifully detailed, well written with simple words conveying powerful visual imagery and complex plotline keeping me gripped to the story. My first experience with author Malia Zaidi’s work, it reminded me of the books I started out with and the enthusiasm I had on those days.

Two murders captured Lady Evelyn’s attention, one from the mansion where her childhood friend was accused to killing his father. The second from the lanes of poverty where her fiancé’s butler was charged with murder of his brother-in-law. Set in the backdrop of war and its repercussions, it was up to Evelyn and her creator Malia to traverse the complex lanes and find the real killers.

The characters were all different. But Lady Evelyn stood out. She was bold and determined. Opening up a Detective Agency in those times was no joke, but she stood up for what she believed in. Daniel, her fiancé, was her constant support. With colleague Hugh and Inspector Staton, she got about investigating both the murders.

Not the one for historical fiction, I found myself constantly pulled into Lady Evelyn’s world through the writing. The investigation was conducted with pure intelligence and analysis.

In the 1920s, there were class differences but no forensics. So cops too were biased, especially when the murder occurred in the working class. The upper echelon got their complete attention. I loved how Malia showed me this world without judgment. It was the way it was.

For me, the story was tad long as I am used to fast thrillers, yet captivating. The book flowed through various genre, historical fiction with the world building, cozy with the writing, but its core was a murder mystery which excited me.

Overall, this was a fun read with great twists. I read for the pure joy of solving the murders.

I received a ARC from Emma and the author, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

After years spent away, Lady Evelyn is at long last back in her home city of London and she has returned with a rather controversial plan. The Carlisle Detective Agency is born, and it does not take long for the bodies… ahem, cases, to start piling up. With her friend and assistant Hugh, Evelyn embarks on the quest to solve the crimes.

Yet the London she encounters is not the London of her coddled youth, and she is forced to learn that there is more to discover than the identity of a murderer. It isn’t only her city which reveals it is not what she always believed it to be, but the people she encounters as well.

Secrets are revealed that have her thinking twice about everything she thought she knew about the society in which she grew up. Evelyn’s love for her hard-won independence confronts her with yet another mystery, whether she is ready or willing to give up any of it for marriage.

And then there is the arrival of rather a familiar face in London, one Daniel is none to pleased to see. Evelyn must find not one but two murderers, as well as make a decision that could determine her future. From the mansions of Mayfair to the dark alleys of Whitechapel, can Evelyn catch the killers before another life is taken?

Publication Date: August 2020