Dangerous to Know

Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander
Minotaur Books, 2010
306 pages
Mystery; Historical; Romance
3/5 stars

Source: Library

I think I'm done with this series.  When I started it, I enjoyed the lightness, Lady Emily's independent streak, and her flirtation with Colin. While this book began promisingly, it went downhill in a confusion of identities, motivations, and vastly different characterizations.

First off Emily is supposed to be so independent and smart and yet I find little actual evidence of that.  It is not enough for me to just be told that she is those things.  Additionally I hate Sebastian and his weird flirtation with her and Colin has become decidedly less appealing to me as he seems very vague.  I felt his personality much more in the first books.  This saddens me because I really liked Colin and one would think their marriage would allow him to be developed more and yet it does not.  In some ways, I think their relationship is supposed to be a bit like Amelia Peabody and Emerson's but I find it much less charming and amusing.  I mostly enjoyed the character of her mother-in-law who finds Emily lacking as I largely agree; I also enjoyed her journal entries about every three chapters.

Then there was the mystery which had plenty of suspects; I fingered three potentials and one of them actually ended up being the murderer.  However there is a decided element of the paranormal as Lady Emily thinks she sees the ghost of a little girl looking for a mother.  I hate that in a historical mystery so that was another part that displeased me.  I also found the plot a bit confusing although I was not giving the book my full attention, hoping instead just to get through it and find something more pleasurable to read.

Overall, I enjoyed this more than Tears of Pearl and despite what I said above, I may give the sixth book, A Crimson Warning, a shot, because as it's set in London, my beloved butler Davis should make an appearance; he has been sorely missed (Dang, I sure like commas!)