A Brush with Shadows

January 1, 2018
A missing heir, an estranged family, and a possible poisoner add up to a pretty puzzle for two far-from-disinterested sleuths.July 1831. Lady Keira Darby and her husband, Sebastian Gage, have been summoned to Langstone Manor in Dartmoor by his maternal grandfather, the Viscount Tavistock, to help find Sebastian's cousin Alfred, who's gone missing. Sebastian was raised at Langstone Manor but hasn't visited for 15 years. He has traumatic memories of his mother's death by poisoning and of being bullied by Alfred and his brother, Rory, and disliked by their mother, Vanessa. On their arrival, they learn that Alfred's disappeared for a day or two at a time in the past, but now he's been gone for 11 days. His grandfather's been pressing him to marry a well-bred heiress, but Alfred, who's always been wild, has other plans. Keira isn't surprised to be treated badly by Vanessa; after all, before she married Sebastian, she was the notorious widow of an anatomist who forced her to use her artistic talents to illustrate his textbook (The Anatomist's Wife, 2012), quite a scandalous job for a lady. Despite her outsider status, she slowly begins to learn more about Sebastian's family. His father, now a well-known detective, was a naval officer not thought good enough for his mother, who was not the first family member to be poisoned. While looking into Alfred's disappearance, Keira meets Lorna Galloway, the beautiful bastard daughter of a wealthy man who provides her with a cottage on the moors, where she's known as a hedge witch. Although Lorna disclaims all knowledge of Alfred's whereabouts, Keira is sure that she loves him and is hiding information. Because the aged viscount is gravely ill, Sebastian is determined to find Alfred dead or alive despite his dislike of his relatives--and dead seems more likely.Huber (This Side of Murder, 2017, etc.) draws on the beauties and dangers of the mysterious moorlands to provide a fitting setting for a knotty mystery filled with envy, greed, and thwarted love.

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January 29, 2018
Set in 1831, Huber’s unsettling sixth Lady Darby mystery (after 2016’s A Brush with Shadows) takes whip-smart Kiera Gage and her husband, Sebastian, back to his unhappy boyhood home of Langstone Manor in Dartmoor. Fifteen years after Sebastian’s last visit, his aunt Vanessa is still frighteningly bitter; his grandfather, the Viscount Tailstock, is deathly ill; and his roguish bully of a cousin, Alfred, has disappeared on the moors. More mischief ensues. Sebastian and Kiera are attacked in their guest rooms, they encounter a woman said to be in a relationship with the missing Alfred who may be a witch, and Kiera becomes violently ill after drinking poisoned tea. Still, they press on, talking to locals about the missing Alfred and trying gently to pry information from the viscount on his sickbed. Meanwhile, Kiera attempts to overcome Sebastian’s stubborn silence about his past, particularly his mother’s death, while holding her own with his family. It’s a long and winding story, but the unexpected ending satisfies. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary.

February 1, 2018
The sixth Lady Darby mystery featuring Kiera and her charming inquiry-agent husband, Sebastian Gage, takes them to the West Country. Langstone Manor holds painful memories for Gage, mostly involving his cousins, Alfred and Rory. But Alfred is missing, and it may not be due to his wastrel whims this time. He has no shortage of enemieshis supposed fiancee and the local witch, for startersbut locals fear Alfred has fallen victim to the Langstone family curse. Misfortune befalls those who besmirch the family name, including Gage's mother, poisoned by her own maid. As Kiera fends off slights from Gage's cruel aunt, she finds a soft spot in the heart of Gage's dying grandfather. Still, they are no closer to finding Alfred. Kiera and Gage are deterred by the dictates of polite society that demand some secrets remain unspoken almost as much as they are by the unpredictable and suddenly changing weather on the moors. Historical and sartorial details make up for the frustratingly slow investigation. Suggest this to readers who like the relationship as much as the mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)