Murder at Kensington Palace (A Wrexford and Sloane Mystery): 3

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The book alternates between Slone’s point of view and that of Wrexford. The author uses this as a way of increasing tension and helping pull the reader through the book at an even pace. These changes occur at well-placed intervals that serve to leave the reader wanting more with one character while at the same time being intrigued by what is happening with the other. The romance between Wrexford and Charlotte Sloane is a tenuous one. Well – perhaps tenuous isn’t the right word – they are each denying it to themselves, but it comes out in the actions they take, in their thoughts and their terror when the other is in danger. They are about to get on my last nerve! They need to get on with it already! I’m ready for them to be a real team – living and working together. George worked as a messenger at the BBC for a short time. After his spell there, he frequently called in to collect copies of the staff newspaper.

The book is intense, satisfying and interesting as an HF crime / thriller. I just wanted a bit more flesh, substance, and depth in places. The murder of a peer, Lord Chittenden, under disturbing circumstances in Kensington Palace Gardens after a Royal Society soirée ("which, along with the Royal Institution, was the leading bastion of London’s scientific minds.") occurs" Naturally Wrexford is a member! George, who has epilepsy and a mental disability, was arrested in 2000 and found guilty of Dando's murder in July the following year. I stumbled on this series a couple of years ago and instantly fell in love. I loved how sassy and sardonic Wrexford is and even if Mrs Sloane is overly pig headed at times, she’s independent and sassy and I can’t get enough of them together!I liked several of the new characters, especially Cordelia and Charlotte’s aunt Lady Peake. I hope we see more of them in future books.

Wrexford comes across to those outside his circle as the epitome a man of Science and logic. Charlotte entertains a double life as the leading satirical caricaturist A.J. Quill. She harbours her own deeply held secrets, always struggling for anonymity and keeping to the shadows. Then there's the weasels, Raven and Hawk, the unlikely guttersnipes that have captured my heart just like they've won Charlotte's, and dare I say Wrexford's if he'd own to having one. Let me not forget Wrexford's valet Turvel,and Charlotte's maid, McClellan. Both treasures in their own way. And there's more! That the victim was from the highest circle of Society could soon have the investigators caught up in a vortex of secrets and lies. Beneath their gilded smiles and polished manners, the wealthy hid a multitude of sins”. There were plenty of distractions for Charlotte, Wrex and their friends to unearth. I hoped to see the MCs take their friendship to the next level. About two-thirds of the way through I surmised who the killer was and waited for everyone to catch up. The plot offered an immense amount of tension; I couldn’t put the book down. Andrea Penrose masterfully weaves the numerous plotlines of Murder at Kensington Palace into a scintillating whole. It’s a pleasure to watch the former guttersnipes Raven and Hawk transform themselves into gentry-coves (Regency slang for gentlemen). Bright boys, their abilities in scientific deduction (Raven) and acute observation (Hawk) serve the cause of proving Nicholas’s innocence.The mystery was clever, with a school of red herrings strewn about to befuddle the reader. The science element, which was essential to the plot, was the hot-topic of the era: electricity! The reader gets a nice refresher course on the early efforts to generate, in a laboratory setting, this force of nature. Charlotte and Wrexford's relationship is progressing just as I thought it would. Charlotte's life takes a different turn and I do wonder how long it will take for people to realise she's AJ Quill and if she'll continue with this persona. Because of that I think it makes the romance so much more sweet. The little morsels of romance sprinkled in make the reader eager to see what happens between them, but ultimately it’s the well written mystery that holds their attention late into the night. I thought that Griffin (from Bow Street) was dumber than he needed to be. He is still very much a one-note character, IMO. And yet asks the same questions that are still being asked today. Questions about possibility vs. morality, whether the ends justify the means, how far, how dark and how deep an experiment should be allowed to go, and whether just because something CAN be done doesn’t mean it SHOULD be done.

Is there something not quite aboveboard about the Eos Society? And what is the explanation for the burns that were found on Cedric's body during his autopsy? They intrigue Wrexford, the amateur chemist, and he has his thoughts about what may be going on. So this all must be investigated, with lots of possible suspects, lots of red herrings, and even a bit of a Perils of Pauline happening at the end (with a very competent "Pauline"). All in all, it was an enjoyable read for me. Mrs. Charlotte Sloane had her hands full when a cousin, who was also a close childhood friend, was murdered. It was heinous. To make matters worse, her other cousin -and his younger twin- was taken into custody and charged with the awful crime. Could it be London’s Bloody Butcher resurfaced to kill once more?But, but, but there are huge differences. The St. Cyr series is exactly what it says on the label. The story is told primarily from the perspective of Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, the man who will in the fullness of time become the Earl of Hendon. In the meanwhile, Devlin expiates his demons, many but not all of which he acquired while serving in France during the Napoleonic Wars, by solving murders – generally the kind of murders that no one in the halls of power want solved.. Commander Simon Foy, who heads the Homicide Command, expressed disappointment at the verdict and said police would be "reflecting upon it" before deciding how to proceed. The novel boasts a colourful secondary cast, including Charlotte’s two wards, Hawk and Raven (aka the Weasels) her housekeeper, McLellan, who is as much bodyguard as she is servant, Wrexford’s friend Kit Sheffield and his valet/assistant, Tyler; and they’re joined by the formidable Dowager Marquess of Peake, Charlotte’s aunt, a wonderfully forthright and shrewd lady I hope we’ll meet again in future books. Although Wrexford gets top billing in ‘his’ series, it’s not his journey. Instead, this story is told from the perspective of Mrs. Charlotte Sloane, a widow living in genteel poverty who makes ends at least wave at each other by penning satirical drawings and publishing them under the nom-de-plume A.J. Quill. It’s clear that she grew up in different circumstances, but when the story begins neither Wrexford nor the reader know exactly what those circumstances were or why she left them.

Because this case was steeped in those scientific questions, as well as the age-old question about the fine lines between genius and madness, and between interest and obsession. All the red herrings in this one, and there were many, had been electrocuted or charred to a crisp before presentation, making the solution seem just that much farther out of reach.

The precious princess

A first appeal failed, but a second, last November, concluded that the fresh scientific evidence meant there was "no certainty" the jury at his original trial would have convicted him. His home, in nearby Crookham Road, was searched, and officers found 2,248 photographs of unsuspecting women.