Book Review: Mortal Arts

Author: Anna Lee Huber
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Series: Lady Darby Mystery # 2

Scotland, 1830. Lady Kiera Darby is no stranger to intrigue—in fact, it seems to follow wherever she goes. After her foray into murder investigation, Kiera must journey to Edinburgh with her family so that her pregnant sister can be close to proper medical care. But the city is full of many things Kiera isn’t quite ready to face: the society ladies keen on judging her, her fellow investigator—and romantic entanglement—Sebastian Gage, and ultimately, another deadly mystery.

Kiera’s old friend Michael Dalmay is about to be married, but the arrival of his older brother—and Kiera’s childhood art tutor—William, has thrown everything into chaos. For ten years Will has been missing, committed to an insane asylum by his own father. Kiera is sympathetic to her mentor’s plight, especially when rumors swirl about a local girl gone missing. Now Kiera must once again employ her knowledge of the macabre and join forces with Gage in order to prove the innocence of a beloved family friend—and save the marriage of another.

I realized I preferred to argue with my sister.

“Our father had him put away. Locked in a lunatic asylum.”

Never in my life has I felt so much sadness and so much joy in the same breath.

Gage was not the least bit intimidated by my angry stare.

I am in love with this series, and this review won’t be able to praise it enough. I fell in love after reading the first book, The Anatomist’s Wife, and now that I have finished Mortal Arts I cannot wait for more from this author and this series. You will need to find a cozy place and just plan on staying there awhile because these books will not let you stop or put them down. The setting and characters, especially, just wrap you up in this Victorian world full of fancy gowns and mysteries to be solved. The mystery is never too subtle and always has me guessing. I will follow this series all the way till the end, even if that means twenty more installments! Anna Lee Huber, you should consider carrying it out that far!

Lady Kiera Darby is the perfect heroine and sleuth to take you on a journey through this series. She is strong, confident, and doesn’t let dead bodies gross her out. That’s always important, right? I love the character development that we see especially with Lady Kiera and her new love interest in this book. There is more romantic elements in this book, but it certainly does not overpower the mystery. I cannot wait to see where Huber takes Kiera’s character. She is smart and so vibrant. You might think you really know her, and then the next chapter or so she will do something to completely shock you. It’s brilliant!

The history and the setting has won me over with both books. It’s very Victorian and sometimes almost Gothic in the way it is described and depicted. The imagery and descriptive details are so eye-catching and hard to overlook. I often find myself stopping to check the front cover or imagine the scene that I am reading in my hand. Huber has such a talent for creating and imagining these beautiful estates and the people who reside in them!

I am definitely in line for the next book in this series!

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Berkley Trade in exchange for my honest review***