Part of Lady Darby Mysteries, book 13
First published 2025
Edinburgh, March 1833. Lady Kiera Darby and her husband Sebastian Gage have settled in the city for the winter, giving Kiera time in her studio to work toward her first solo exhibit. When an invitation arrives to bid on the late Lord Eldin's celebrated art collection, they go without hesitation. Then the floor gives way. One bidder dies. Kiera and Gage barely walk out alive. Sergeant Maclean asks them to help determine who tampered with the structure and why. The police cannot establish the killer's intended target, and as Kiera and Gage press further, an uncomfortable pattern takes shape. The dead man was not the one meant to die. Someone drew Kiera to that auction on purpose. Now they must work out who is willing to kill dozens of people to reach a single one, and what that person ultimately wants. The harder they look, the more certain they feel they are closing in. But Kiera knows better than most that a painter's most reliable tool is misdirection, drawing the eye away from what matters. She and Gage are being watched, guided, and steered, and the real danger is somewhere they have not yet thought to look.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, adult-fiction, thriller, detective, mystery-thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, clever, dark, fast-paced, intricate, suspenseful
Tropes: collateral-damage, deliberate-framing, married-couple-sleuths, misdirection
Setting: Edinburgh, Scotland
Period: March 1833, 19th century
400 pages · Paperback · Berkley
Content warnings: death, murder