Skip to main content

Blog Tour: Lady Odelia's Secret (Scott-De Quincy Mysteries #2) by Jane Steen: A Book Review

Lady Odelia's Secret by Jane Steen

Aspidistra Press

Genre: Historical Mystery
Series: Scott-De Quincy Mysteries, #2
Publication Date: March 7, 2022
Source: This book is given to me by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

   

Synopsis: Do you ever really know your family? 

    In the 1880s a sixth daughter learns not to ask for much, even if she’s the daughter of an earl. Even if she married the richest man in her corner of Sussex. Even if she’s now a widow with a splendid Georgian mansion. 

    Lady Helena Whitcombe is still trying to adjust to widowhood and reconcile her family loyalties with her desires when her artist sister Odelia makes a startling suggestion. Why not make her mark on the house that’s now all hers, by commissioning a magnificent work of art from one of London’s most celebrated painters? 

   Lady Odelia invites Helena into the seductive world of medieval fantasies and fairy tales she has inhabited since Helena was a child. But when a shocking series of events exposes the destructive reality of a great artist’s unusual lifestyle, Helena and her lady’s maid Guttridge are called on to help—or is it to interfere? 

    Looming danger, the risk of scandal, and competing loyalties force Helena to re-evaluate her relationship with the sister she’s always loved the most. 

   What is Lady Odelia’s secret? Find out in this gripping continuation of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries, a story that blends mystery and historical detail with Downton Abbey-style saga as the truths about Helena’s aristocratic family unfold. Read it now before the secret gets out!


My Review: Lady Helena has inherited a beautiful Georgian mansion. Her sister, Odelia, has advised her to decorate it with beautiful art paintings. She suggests a famous London painter. Lady Helena agrees. However, she discovers shocking secrets about the painter she has commissioned. These secrets lead to a rift with her sister. Can Helena’s relationship with her sister survive after she figures out the  secret?


One of the criticisms I had with the first novel was how Lady Helena was mostly a passive character and that she barely investigated. In this sequel, she has certainly become more active. She does much more investigation with her assistant. Therefore, she was definitely given an upgrade to her character. Lady Helena also seems more independent and in control of her life. She definitely seemed happier in her new position. I also liked her romance with the French physician more in this novel. This is because we learn new details about him. Therefore, Lady Helena was more of a likable character in this novel.


Overall, this novel is about scandals, secrets, and love. I found all the characters to be very fascinating in this novel. The mystery itself does not happen until late in this novel. However, there was more action, suspense, and drama than in the first novel! The drawbacks of the were that it can be slow moving throughout most of the book, and there were some scenes that made me uncomfortable. Still, this was a better written story and featured more developed characters than in the first novel. The ending kept me interested enough to at least continue the series. I recommend Lady Odelia’s Secret for fans of Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark, The Gilded Shroud, and An Infamous Betrayal!


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

    Jane Steen writes series set in the late Victorian period, with an unputdownable blend of mystery, family saga, romance, and the real-life issues facing women of the era. She is an indie author who began her career while living in Illinois, later moving with her American husband to her native England. When not working, she can be found walking through the green and muddy Sussex countryside, getting her cobwebs blown away on the nearby beaches, lovingly tending her garden, or sticking her nose into yet another book. 

    For more information, please visit Jane Steen's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, April 4 
Review at Coffee and Ink 
Interview at Novels Alive 
Review at Gwendalyn's Books 

Tuesday, April 5 

Wednesday, April 6 
Interview at Passages to the Past 

Thursday, April 7 

Friday, April 8 
Review at Novels Alive 
Review at View from the Birdhouse

Giveaway

9 winners will receive an eBook of Lady Odelia's Secret and the main prize winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift card & eBook of Lady Odelia's Secret. The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on April 8th. You must be 18 or older to enter. 




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint (Women in Antiquity) by David Potter: A Book Review

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint (Women in Antiquity) Author: David Potter Genre: Nonfiction, Biography, History Publisher: Oxford University Press Release Date: November 4, 2015 Pages: 288 Source: Publisher/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Two of the most famous mosaics from the ancient world, in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, depict the sixth-century emperor Justinian and, on the wall facing him, his wife, Theodora (497-548). This majestic portrait gives no inkling of Theodora's very humble beginnings or her improbable rise to fame and power. Raised in a family of circus performers near Constantinople's Hippodrome, she abandoned a successful acting career in her late teens to follow a lover whom she was legally forbidden to marry. When he left her, she was a single mother who built a new life for herself as a secret agent, in which role she met the heir to the throne. To the shock of the ruling elite, the two were married, and when Justinian...
Post a Comment
Read more

Guest Post: The Ladies-in-Waiting: Lady Isabel Baynton by Alexandra Walsh

    Today's guest writer is Alexandra Walsh. She is the author of The Catherine Howard Conspiracy , which is a historical thriller surrounding the infamous Tudor queen. In this guest post, Mrs. Walsh discusses the life of Catherine's lady-in-waiting, Isabel Baynton. This post will be sure to fascinate fans of Tudor era. If you enjoy her post, please pick up a copy of The Catherine Howard Conspiracy ! Thank you, Mrs. Walsh! The Ladies-in-Waiting – Lady Isabel Baynton by Alexandra Walsh     One of the most enjoyable things about writing an historical novel is discovering the tiny details that make the period real on the page. While I was researching The Catherine Howard Conspiracy , I spent a great deal of time hunting out the life stories of the women who surrounded the young queen in order to create a group of realistic friends and confidants.       There are some well-known names linked with Catherine and her downfall: Lady Jane Boleyn,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Guest Post by Cheryl Anne Stapp: Sacramento Women in the Pioneer Era

      Today's guest writer is Cheryl Anne Stapp. She is the author of Before The Gold Rush - The Sinclairs of Rancho del Paso 1840-1849 , and Disaster & Triumph: Sacramento Women, Gold Rush Through the Civil War . I am currently reading Before the Gold Rush , and I find it fascinating! In this guest post, she writes about stories of pioneer women that settled in Sacramento. I hope you find these stories captivating and that it will give you some insight into her novel. Thank you, Mrs. Stapp!  Sacramento Women in the Pioneer Era      I don’t write fiction. I tried, but soon found that I have no talent for plotting. My first and only attempt at a historical romance was actually pretty far along when an editor friend pointed out there was more historical matter than romance in the manuscript…and as far as a well-constructed storyline with surprising plot twists, well…       But in 2009 I found my niche, largely inspire...
2 comments
Read more