Death Comes Courting the Duke Next Door
(2025)(A book in the Regency: Corpses & Courtship Club series)
A novel by Marisa Paxon
A nosy neighbour, a newly returned duke, and a corpse arranged in his ruined abbey like an unwanted delivery. Miss Tabitha Grey only meant to observe Merrow Abbey from a safe distance with her spyglass, her herbarium, and her aunt’s steady disapproval. Then Gabriel Merrow comes home from war, inherits a crumbling estate, and immediately acquires a dead man on cold stone.
When the village constable runs out of authority by lunchtime, Tabitha steps in, mostly out of civic duty and partly because she cannot leave well enough alone. A missing satchel, a locked stillroom, poison that should have stayed in labelled jars, and a house full of people who look innocent in the particular way that requires investigation quickly turn one death into two. Zero decorum, plentiful tea.
If Tabitha fails, she risks her reputation, her home, and the duke'''s already precarious inheritance, plus the small matter of living next door to a murderer with excellent manners.
Perfect for readers who enjoy a fair play, clue-rich cozy mystery, prickly chemistry, manor house secrets, and dry Regency wit. Closed-door slow-burn romance with a happily ever after, non-gory murder, and a complete case, with more scandals waiting in the series. Tap Look Inside, Tabitha is already taking notes.
Miss Tabitha Grey has three firm principles in life: plants are more reliable than people, neighbours are best observed from a safe distance, and nothing interesting ever happens at Merrow Abbey. The morning a very dead stranger appears on the abbey’s nave floor with a list of the duke’s fields in his pocket, the third principle expires on the spot.
Suddenly the long empty estate is awake again; a war-scarred duke with a scar like a reprimand finds a corpse in his ruins, the village discovers a new favourite topic, and Tabitha’s quiet existence is over. With rumours of curses, missing satchels, suspicious ledgers, and a faint bitter scent that reminds her unpleasantly of cherry laurel, she is the only one treating the whole business like a problem that can be solved rather than a sermon illustration. Unfortunately, the problem comes with a very stubborn duke, a very nosy village, and a growing list of people who would prefer this particular guest had stayed buried.
Perfect for readers who love sharp tongued spinsters, grumpy dukes, ruined abbeys, clue-rich country house puzzles, and closed door, very low heat romance with at least a happy for now. Expect a fair play mystery with no gore, plenty of dry, darkly comic village chaos, and a reluctant investigative partnership that might, if no one else dies inconveniently, turn into something altogether more dangerous. Turn the first page and eavesdrop.
Genre: Mystery
When the village constable runs out of authority by lunchtime, Tabitha steps in, mostly out of civic duty and partly because she cannot leave well enough alone. A missing satchel, a locked stillroom, poison that should have stayed in labelled jars, and a house full of people who look innocent in the particular way that requires investigation quickly turn one death into two. Zero decorum, plentiful tea.
If Tabitha fails, she risks her reputation, her home, and the duke'''s already precarious inheritance, plus the small matter of living next door to a murderer with excellent manners.
Perfect for readers who enjoy a fair play, clue-rich cozy mystery, prickly chemistry, manor house secrets, and dry Regency wit. Closed-door slow-burn romance with a happily ever after, non-gory murder, and a complete case, with more scandals waiting in the series. Tap Look Inside, Tabitha is already taking notes.
Miss Tabitha Grey has three firm principles in life: plants are more reliable than people, neighbours are best observed from a safe distance, and nothing interesting ever happens at Merrow Abbey. The morning a very dead stranger appears on the abbey’s nave floor with a list of the duke’s fields in his pocket, the third principle expires on the spot.
Suddenly the long empty estate is awake again; a war-scarred duke with a scar like a reprimand finds a corpse in his ruins, the village discovers a new favourite topic, and Tabitha’s quiet existence is over. With rumours of curses, missing satchels, suspicious ledgers, and a faint bitter scent that reminds her unpleasantly of cherry laurel, she is the only one treating the whole business like a problem that can be solved rather than a sermon illustration. Unfortunately, the problem comes with a very stubborn duke, a very nosy village, and a growing list of people who would prefer this particular guest had stayed buried.
Perfect for readers who love sharp tongued spinsters, grumpy dukes, ruined abbeys, clue-rich country house puzzles, and closed door, very low heat romance with at least a happy for now. Expect a fair play mystery with no gore, plenty of dry, darkly comic village chaos, and a reluctant investigative partnership that might, if no one else dies inconveniently, turn into something altogether more dangerous. Turn the first page and eavesdrop.
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Marisa Paxon's Death Comes Courting the Duke Next Door