Here is another double review for the Lady Emily series. This one is for book 3: A Fatal Waltz and the short story: The Bridal Strain: Emily and Colin's Wedding, both by Tasha Alexander. So with no further ado (and possible spoilers ahead) here's my thoughts on A Fatal Waltz.
This book is the third Lady Emily novel and it opens up with Emily and her fiancee Colin on a trip to the country along with Emily's dear friend Ivy and her husband Robert as well as other society acquaintances. Then their host is shot dead while the men are out shooting and Ivy's husband Robert is arrested for it. After she returns to London, Robert summons Emily to the prison he's being held in to ask for her help in proving his innocence and Emily readily agrees. So then she is thrust into a new mystery investigation that takes her to Vienna in the Austrian Empire following leads. In Austria she is accosted by another guest of the party where the man died and he threatens both her and her fiance if she continues to poke into things. She ends up in the world of coffee shops and culture in 1800s Vienna and the dueling worlds of the Austrian Empire's Monarchy and the anarchists that want to overthrow it. I really enjoyed the glitz and glamour of the winter season in Vienna with her friendship with the Empress and her friendships with artists in coffee shops. In the end, Emily foils an attempt on the Austrian royal family by the anarchists, foils the man threatening her and her fiance, and clears her friend's husband's good name. The resolution of the case involving her friend's husband was so heartbreaking and I'm still not really over it. I read this book from July 9th to July 18th and gave it a generous 4/5 stars.
Second, the short story The Bridal Strain: Emily & Colin's Wedding. This is billed as book 3.5 in the Lady Emily series and is a whopping 27 pages. I did buy this book for about $0.99 on Amazon since I hate missing books in a series, even short stories, as I read through them.
At the end of A Fatal Waltz, Emily and Colin had met at her villa in Greece to heal after the strenuous emotions involved in their last cases. On the cliffs where he had proposed to her, Colin asks her to elope with him, now and then, and she agrees. So this 27 page book takes you from the decision to elope immediately and then back up to the villa where the servants are setting up and they're whisked away to get ready to get married. Then they elope with their Greek friends to witness and Cecile, Emily's refined French lady friend. There's a ruckus party following the ceremony before the newly married couple sneaks off to bed. It was a short, cute little interlude between books to give just a personal anecdote with no mystery or peril. I enjoyed it and gave it a 4/5 stars.
So there's my thoughts on books 3 and 3.5 of the Lady Emily series. I already have the next three books waiting on me from the library so look forward for others in the future.
Happy Reading!
Richelle and Emma
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