Review by Booklist Review
Amelie Hampton and her cousins work with their aunt on her romance publication, The Marriage Gazette. With no romantic experience in real life, Amelie has some curious ideas about love, which surface in her lonely-hearts column. One evening when surreptitiously checking on a couple she has brought together, she is chased down by detective Michael Baker of Scotland Yard, who assumes that she is spying on the couple. The man Amelie was observing is handsome Harold Radcliffe, a grieving widower who waxes poetic about his wife and even sheds tears, yet he's using the Gazette to find her replacement awfully soon after her death. Amelie knows Harold from her book group and believes him to be the epitome of genteel manhood. Michael suspects Harold may have murdered his wife. Posing as a friend of the family, Michael accompanies Amelie to an evening of entertainment with the book club members, and murder ensues. Allen's chaste tale of Victorian romantic suspense will also appeal to historical mystery readers, and it would be great for mother-and-daughter reads.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Allen (Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts) pairs a matchmaker and a detective in this charming Victorian romance. Hopeless romantic Amelie Hampton works for London's Marriage Gazette answering correspondence from the lovelorn. Her latest matchmaking effort sees her pairing Miss Franklin with a man of interest from the Gazette's personal ads. The two meet at a restaurant and, hoping to ensure that they get along, Amelie spies from outside, happily recognizing the mystery man as Harold Radcliffe, a handsome, recently widowed member of her book club. Also surveilling the couple is Det. Michael Baker, who believes Radcliffe may have murdered his late wife. Michael's and Amelie's paths cross and, after Michael tells Amelie what she's stumbled into, she invites him to her book club to help further his investigation. As Amelie begins to share Michael's suspicions, she feigns romantic interest in Harold in order to discover his secrets--even if it puts her in danger. Allen expertly combines mystery and romance into a fast-paced tale complete with plenty of surprises and a central relationship founded on mutual admiration and respect. Readers are sure to appreciate the strong, well-shaded heroine and twisty plot. (Sept.)
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