Thursday, September 3, 2009

Dead Husbands Are So Much Nicer


In Tasha Alexander's And Only To Deceive, Emily is comfortably settling into her role as a widow. She really only got married to avoid her annoying mother, and thought that one of her husband's more endearing traits was his habit of going off on prolonged hunting trips. And now, after only a few months of marriage, he conveniently dies on safari, leaving her with nothing but a lot of nice houses and a vast fortune to console her.

Of course, it is a bit disconcerting when all his friends come by to express condolences, since really, Emily had barely begun to know the man. Even more disconcerting to discover that he considered her to be the great love of his life. Talking to his friends and reading his papers brings her much closer to Philip than ever, and also leads her to a new fascination with ancient Greek art and literature. But unsettling hints of a wide-ranging theft of artifacts has her doubting her husband's integrity. Emily works on the mystery of her love life and of the thefts and frauds in closely linked steps, while beginning to test the possibilities of new love. Of course, most of the candidates for her hand are also suspects in the mystery, and anyway, being a widow is a lot of fun. Very conveniently awesome girlfriends help with the puzzles, and the whole is a very entertaining piece, especially if you like books set in the Victorian era. B+

1 comment:

kmitcham said...

Don't let our brothers(in-law or in-blood) see that headline, I think.