'TIL DEATH DO US PART - Amanda Quick
Berkley
ISBN 13: 978-0-399-17446-9
April 2016
Historical Mystery

Late 19th Century, London

Calista Langley's salons are carefully planned, always entertaining, and those who attend are vetted by Calista or even investigated by her brother. After all, these are meet and greet gatherings for those trying to find friendship and marriage partners. Scoundrels and fortune hunters are not welcomed. When her grandmother died several years ago, the agency was Calista's only way to make a living and help raise her younger brother, Andrew, who is now nineteen. While her grandmother left her and Andrew Cranleigh Hall, an imposing mansion in a good neighborhood, she left little else. Only the lower floor and the outside gardens look respectable. Upstairs is rather shabby. The only current problem Calista faces is the handsome manipulator Nester Kettering, who ended his marriage proposal when he learned Calista wasn't a rich heiress. He married his heiress a year ago, so why is back and saying he still wants her? A potential new client comes into her office-study, interrupting Nester's unwanted and unpleasant confrontation. It turns out the interloper isn't a new client, but the protective older brother of Eudora, one of her clients.

Trent Hastings has come to confront the owner of the introductions salons his younger sister attends. He thinks Eudora has fallen into a disreputable situation, and he is highly skeptical of the respectability of the arrangements. Once at Cranleigh Hall, he interrupts the meeting between the man and woman in the study. The man recognizes Trent as the author of the Clive Stone detective novels and makes a rude comment about the scars on Trent's face, commenting it is no wonder Trent has to seek out an introductions agency. While Trent is here to protect his sister's reputation and safety, he is taken with Calista, although he won't admit it.

Nester confronts Calista again when she is on one of London's streets. She is upset to know he followed her, and this time he threatens her. She threatens him back, but in the cab on the return to Cranleigh Hall, she stares at a black silk-wrapped box on the opposite seat. She knows it is another memento mori, or death memory trinket. She has already received two, and they have her initials on them. At Cranleigh, she discovers Trent Hastings has returned, and when he learns of the memento mori, they begin an investigation which leads to three previous murders.

Amanda Quick writes superb mysteries even those taking place in the Victorian era. ‘TIL DEATH DO US PART contains a great group of characters with unexpected motivations and personality twists, but while the plot is intricate, it remains sensitive to the age. Both Calista and Trent come from similar family backgrounds, which gives them a quick empathy, moreover, they are both clever, inquisitive, and independent. The secondary characters have important roles, but even with Trent's brother Harry's help with the new science of psychology, no one will know the actual murderer until confronted.

Robin Lee