An Invitation to Murder
by Leighann Dobbs & Harmony Williams

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Historical mystery

Lady Katherine has a deal with her detective father that she can solve a murder case before her 25th birthday, but she’s running out of time and her investigation into 2 recent murders is hampered by the premature shut-down of the season in Town, due to those same murders. Fortunately, her success matching her sisters with loving husbands, Katherine is asked by a desperate mother to help her daughter find a match with an earl whose mother is brave enough to throw a house party, thus giving Katherine an invitation to that party as the young woman’s chaperone.

The note from the authors at the beginning of the book set the tone for me, and it wasn’t in a good way. They explain that they have intentionally gone against historical accuracy to make their heroine less “ladylike” and “acceptable” to society simply because the authors don’t like that women were expected to act demure and leave certain things to men in that time period. Maybe they shouldn’t be writing about that time period, then, but I also tend to think there are ways to write “strong” female characters in the Regency period (give or take) in England without having them talk and act completely anachronistically, intentional or not. To be fair, though, I did still choose to read the book, knowing this in advance. That wasn’t the only thing that bothered me about the book, though, or I’m sure I would have given it more than 2 stars.

My main issue is actually Katherine herself as a character and as an investigator. She accepts the matchmaking job but completely ignores her charge most of the time, even at times forgetting all about the woman she’s supposed to be chaperoning. And ultimately, I don’t believe she has any idea what she’s doing as an investigator. She has terrible (and obvious) investigative techniques and no foundation for any theory. It all just sounds like complete guesswork. Even by halfway through the story, none of her theories seemed any more plausible than any of them did from the start. Each time she tried to advance a theory with new information, it would ultimately end with, “or maybe not…”

With a main character I don’t care for, an obnoxiously dogged rival detective, and some major coincidences, this book is definitely not for me. I’m not sure I can really recommend this for anyone, though if you’re a fan of the genre(s) and wouldn’t be bothered by the things I mentioned, considering checking out the other reviews at the link below.

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