Dido Kent

With all the charm of a Georgette Heyer novel, the sequel to Bellfield Hall finds Miss Dido Kent vacationing at the home of her cousin. When a neighbor passes away quite suddenly, Dido feels she is ideally placed to observe the reaction of the community, but her suitor, Mr. William Lomax, feels otherwise. As Dido presses on, she learns more about the dirty dealings among the upper classes of Surrey than even she could have imagined. Anna Dean has crafted a delightful historical mystery series; the next best thing to reading Jane Austen.

A Woman of Consequence, the third installment in Anna Dean's charming mystery series, opens with a visit to the ruins of an Abbey where Penelope Lambe, suffers a bad fall from the ancient stone steps. Before she slips into unconsciousness, Penelope manages to say, 'I saw her-It was her.' Soon people are certain that she saw the Grey Nun, a ghost reputed to walk the abbey's ruins. Miss Dido Kent, however, does not approve of ghosts. Disregarding everyone else's assumptions, and endeavoring to take her mind off the troubles of her family, Dido turns her energy toward solving the mystery. But, events start to seem more sinister when a human skeleton is found at the abbey. Is Miss Lambe's accident connected to this discovery? Everyone is relying on Dido to find out. A captivating continuation of the Dido Kent series: rich in suspense, historical detail, and most of all, characters.

The inquisitive Miss Dido Kent returns in A Place of Confinement to elucidate the mysterious disappearance of a young woman in the fourth installment of Anna Dean's charming Regency era series The dependably sharp Miss Dido Kent is suffering her sister-in-law's attempts to marry her off to the ghastly clergyman Doctor Prowdlee. Dido, however, is determined to refuse him, as well as his abominable side whiskers. As punishment she is sent to accompany her hypochondriac-and quite wealthy-Aunt Manners on a trip to Charcombe Manor. The family hopes that revisiting her childhood home will keep Aunt Manners in good spirits, and Dido in her good graces. However, upon their arrival it's clear to Dido that there is much more at stake than her aunt's favor. The rich heiress Letitia Verney has disappeared while visiting Charcombe, and Mr. Tom Lomax is suspected of abducting her. Dido is inclined to believe in his innocence, but how is she to explain by what method a young lady could enter through the front door and not appear on the other side? And this isn't the only enigma that the Elizabethan manor holds: there is a deserted wing in which lights mysteriously appear at night, a crying ghost which keeps visitors awake, and memories of old family quarrels. When the senior Mr. Lomax comes to town to defend his son, the mystery intensifies-and so does Dido's romantic life. With lives and reputations on the line, it's up to Dido to put the pieces together to save the Lomaxes and find the vanished young Miss Verney. In this captivating fourth installment of the Dido Kent series, readers will find more of the rich characters, meticulous historical detail, and masterful suspense they've come to expect from Anna Dean.