Murder in Berkeley Square by Vanessa Riley

This Regency-era England mystery opens just a few days before Christmas in 1806. The prologue sets an eerie stage of what’s to come. Benjamin Brooks, a high-profile Barrister is relishing in the fact that he discovered a hideous old Rebel’s Rhyme. He’s going to use it to entertain and torment the guests at Lord Duncan’s Night of Regrets.

Night of Regrets is an annual gathering at Lord Duncan’s home in Berkeley Square. Lord Duncan is the Magistrate of London. The guests (men only) are a small select group of colleagues, neighbors and old friends. Good food, wine and confessions easily flow among themselves as they expose dark truths and secrets from their past – and their regrets.

Lord Worthing is a well-known Baron. He’s out of the country and enlisted Stapleton Henderson, a physician, friend and neighbor to drop off his wife, Abbie (Lady Worthing) at her aunt’s house for the holidays. Abbie’s cousin, Flo, and Miss Bellows, her personal maid, are accompanying her.

But when a treacherous snow storms disables Stapleton’s private carriage, they find themselves near Lord Duncan’s house. As Abbie trudges through the snow, she spots a man outside of the house sitting on a bench. She’s alarmed he’s ill and needs help. But as she makes her way closer to the man, she see’s the white snow stained a blood red and passes out.

Lord Duncan is stunned to have a dead man in his yard while Stapleton carries Abbie into his house for shelter. And even though Stapleton is on the guest list to later attend the Night of Regrets, Duncan’s less than thrilled to have 3 unexpected women as house guests. At the rate the snow is coming down, everyone will be trapped at his home for at least one night, possibly more.

To make matters worse, it becomes apparent the dead man was murdered. They’ll be no outside help on this one – no one is coming or going with the blizzard showing no signs of letting up. Lord Duncan and his guests decide to proceed with their Night of Regrets. They assume the killer did the deed and left the premises on foot, the snow covering his tracks.

But when a questionable deadly accident occurs later the same day, suddenly everyone is on high alert. One of them participating in the Night of Regrets is most likely the killer. Lady Worthing is known for her exceptional sleuthing skills. She’s soon discovers that Benjamin Brooks’ unsettling Rebel’s Rhyme is tied to almost everyone in the house. Then each verse becomes a bone-chilling reality.

This superb mystery is written in a way to hold readers hostage as they try to figure out a very complicated series of murders. There’s certainly no shortage of motives: treachery, failures, unethical affairs (both business and of the heart), revenge and jealousy lurk in every corner. Each guest is bound together in life and now in death.

The author, Vanessa Riley, provides such authentic detail in this by-gone era, that you’ll forget it’s 2024. The atmosphere is positively perfect. The characters are emotionally complex. The murders brilliantly executed. The killer positively elusive. Murder in Berkeley Square: wickedly crafty and suspenseful – a perfect mystery.

Murder at Berkeley Square is the third book in The Lady Worthing Mystery series.

A copy of this book and cover photo were provided by: Kensington Publishing.