Murder, Marbles
(2026)and Other Improper Museum Encounters
(A book in the Regency: Corpses & Courtship Club series)
A novel by Marisa Paxon
I am the narrator of this book. I carried every ink blot, every committee smile, and one extremely heavy marble torso without so much as a thank-you, and now they have decided I should sell it to you as well. Marvellous.
I drop you into Mayfair, where a perfectly respectable townhouse has been dressed up as the centre of Greek learning, mostly so the ton can drink wine and mispronounce Athens with confidence. Miss Adelaide Pembroke arrives with a portfolio, a generous fee, and the sort of inconvenient eyesight that notices when a plinth has been wedged, unwedged, and wedged again.
Then Sir Peregrine Vale parades his precious Apollo, hints at revelations, and is promptly repaid by gravity. The statue falls, the room screams, and someone has the decency to cover the deceased with a sheet, which is more tact than he ever showed anyone. I have narrated livelier evenings, but they generally involve fewer splinters.
Bow Street sends Mr Child, who has the patient, exhausted air of a man who would like London to stop staging tragedies on upholstered furniture. Adelaide has her own quiet evidence, a sharp heel print, an altered inscription, and Lord Crispin Hatherleigh, Marquess of Darnwick, who can manage Parliament but struggles with a room where stability has started taking bribes. If she fails, she loses the work keeping her family housed, and London will happily decide she helped the statue along, because the city prefers a tidy story to a true one.
And yes, while all of this is happening, the marquess insists on listening to the one woman in the room who cares more about wedges than titles. Attraction simmers in the corners, strictly proper in public, irritatingly sincere in private, and determined to behave itself because this is Regency society and everyone is terrified of curtains.
Perfect for readers who like Regency whodunits with sharp manners and sharper observations, an unusual antiquities setting, a clue-forward investigation with an inquest looming, and a closed door slow burn where the most scandalous thing on the page is often the honesty.
A cozy Regency mystery with a fair-play trail of clues, non-gory peril, and a complete closed door romance with a happily-ever-after.
Now click Look Inside and mind your step, the floors are crowded, the gossip is eager, and the statues are not as stable as they claim.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
I drop you into Mayfair, where a perfectly respectable townhouse has been dressed up as the centre of Greek learning, mostly so the ton can drink wine and mispronounce Athens with confidence. Miss Adelaide Pembroke arrives with a portfolio, a generous fee, and the sort of inconvenient eyesight that notices when a plinth has been wedged, unwedged, and wedged again.
Then Sir Peregrine Vale parades his precious Apollo, hints at revelations, and is promptly repaid by gravity. The statue falls, the room screams, and someone has the decency to cover the deceased with a sheet, which is more tact than he ever showed anyone. I have narrated livelier evenings, but they generally involve fewer splinters.
Bow Street sends Mr Child, who has the patient, exhausted air of a man who would like London to stop staging tragedies on upholstered furniture. Adelaide has her own quiet evidence, a sharp heel print, an altered inscription, and Lord Crispin Hatherleigh, Marquess of Darnwick, who can manage Parliament but struggles with a room where stability has started taking bribes. If she fails, she loses the work keeping her family housed, and London will happily decide she helped the statue along, because the city prefers a tidy story to a true one.
And yes, while all of this is happening, the marquess insists on listening to the one woman in the room who cares more about wedges than titles. Attraction simmers in the corners, strictly proper in public, irritatingly sincere in private, and determined to behave itself because this is Regency society and everyone is terrified of curtains.
Perfect for readers who like Regency whodunits with sharp manners and sharper observations, an unusual antiquities setting, a clue-forward investigation with an inquest looming, and a closed door slow burn where the most scandalous thing on the page is often the honesty.
A cozy Regency mystery with a fair-play trail of clues, non-gory peril, and a complete closed door romance with a happily-ever-after.
Now click Look Inside and mind your step, the floors are crowded, the gossip is eager, and the statues are not as stable as they claim.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Marisa Paxon's Murder, Marbles