Once Upon a Murder is the second book in the Lady Librarian Mystery series by Samantha Larsen.
I am a huge fan of historical romance, and was excited to check out this mystery that has a touch of romance on the side, unfortunately it fell a little short for me.
Set in a small English village in 1784, Tiffany is working as a librarian at a local manor, when one morning on her way to work, she finds a dead man close to her cottage.
There were some things I liked about this book, such as the diverse cast of characters, and the historical notes at the end of the book explaining that some of the more unbelievable bits of this story were historically accurate.
Unfortunately there were also a number of things that really bothered me, not least of which is the number of time Tiffany’s menstrual cycle, bloody rags, and cramping stomach were mentioned. Even though I had not read book one, I felt like some of the characters acted very, well, uncharacteristically just from what I knew of them from this book. I also found some of the dialogue a little more modern than I would have expected from a novel set in this time period
In addition I found some of the situations awkward, and the reactions of characters unrealistic. For instance, when Tiffany and her love interest are walking together, and she professes her love for him, he rejects her (rather harshly and with no explanation after previously having shown interest in her) and they just continue on to question people about the murder. I just found it all rather odd.
If you aren’t looking for complete historical accuracy, this was a quick read, but I’m not sure I’ll check out any other books in the series.
Once Upon a Murder will be published on February 20 2024.
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