Murder at Kensington Palace

The fatal stabbing of artist Charlotte Sloane's cousin Cedric, Lord Chittenden, propels Penrose's uneven third Regency mystery featuring Charlotte and the Earl of Wrexford (after 2018's Murder at Half Moon Gate). A bloody knife found in the victim's residence causes the Bow Street Runners to arrest Chittenden's twin brother, the Hon. Nicholas Locke. Though Locke is bitter that a difference of a few minutes at birth prevented him from inheriting the Chittenden title, Charlotte believes he's been framed. Wrexford, an amateur chemist, learns that Chittenden had been experimenting with electricity, which some of the era's less reputable thinkers claim can reanimate the dead. Meanwhile, Charlotte explores Chittenden's romantic rivalry over the hand of a beautiful bluestocking. A melodramatic final act disappoints, and the bad-tempered Wrexford's predilection for violent attacks on those reluctant to answer his questions lessens his appeal. In contrast, Penrose does a good job linking the mystery to the period's scientific and social changes. Those seeking an unusually rich look at Regency life will be satisfied. Agent: Gail Fortune, Fortune Talbot Agency. (Oct.)

A Regency lady with a hidden past joins forces with an irritable aristocrat to solve a dastardly series of crimes.That waspish illustrator using the name A.J. Quill is really Lady Charlotte Sloan, cast off by her family for marrying her drawing master. She's worked on several cases with the Earl of Wrexford (Murder at Half Moon Gate, 2018, etc.), but none has tested her skills or her heart as much as the one involving her cousin Cedric, Lord Chittenden, and his twin brother, Nicholas. The twins were Charlotte's dearest childhood companions, and she's devastated when Cedric is brutally murdered and Nicholas is arrested. The cousins were interested in scientific research, so Charlotte searches for clues among their peers. Hawk and Raven, two street urchins she's raising as gentlemen, help her in other ways. And Wrexford bribes his way into the prison housing Nicholas, who drops hints about the Eos Society and Cedric's rivalries over lovely Lady Julianna Aldrich, whose wealthy guardian encourages her intellectual interests. Although the theory that electricity can be used to raise the dead has largely been disproven, Cedric has continued to experiment with the voltaic pile. A particularly promising clue is the sighting of a person with a distinctive hat and cloak at recent crime scenes. Realizing that the killer is most likely a member of the upper crust, Charlotte makes the difficult decision to reveal herself as Lady Charlotte in order to meet more of her cousin's friends. Her burgeoning awareness of her love for Wrexford is just one of many unpredictable complications in the search for a clever and ruthless killer.Science and romance meet in a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.