Barnes & NobleAct Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally

Cozy Mystery for Downton Abbey Fans

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced e-copy of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally. For fans of Downton Abbey and Bridgerton, this story takes the reader back to the early 1800s to rub elbows with royal society and solve a murder or two. Lady Petra Forsyth, daughter of the Earl of Holbrook, has declared her intent to never marry after losing her fiancé in a tragic accident three years earlier, Petra is independently wealthy and sees no reason to give up her money or her freedom to a man who could never capture her heart like her betrothed. She continues to accept social invitations among her friends, but has made it very clear she does wish to entertain a man’s affections. It is at one such societal engagement that Petra discovers one of her longtime friends has died as a result of a fit due to “female melancholia.” As she begins to inquire about the death and why no one notified her as to her friend’s passing, she discovers the connection between a physician and several high society families. When Petra launches an investigation and discovers her friend’ might actually be alive, she finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery that could result in her being the next victim of a dark conspiracy to keep certain independent societal women out of the way. The “bad” men in this book are cringy and creepy and their treatment of women made me infuriated, so it was easy to cheer for our heroine as she went down the rabbit hole of the secret side of society. Petra is spunky and resourceful and is clearly not the spinster as the society of that time period would like to paint her. It is hard to imagine how little women were valued during this time period., however, Connally is quite descriptive about this. Overall, I enjoyed this first book in the Lady Petra Inquiries series and am looking forward to reading the next installment, All's Fair in Love and Treachery.