The Anatomist’s Wife: A Lady Darby Mystery by Anna Lee Huber

    I have a tendency to find books all over the place.  For a while now I have been discovering some of them in Book Page, a monthly magazine all about books.  It was how I first became aware of The Lady Darby Mysteries.  One of the new books in the series was being featured, and it sounded intriguing.  But of course, I had to start at the beginning.

    Lady Kiera Darby has been living in her sister’s Scotland home for a while.  It is 1830, and she is escaping all the accusations swarming around her ever since her husband died.

    Sir Anthony Darby was an anatomist and surgeon.  In an effort to create an anatomy textbook, he dissected bodies on his own, without permission.  For the pictures, he forced his wife to draw them, causing great problems for Kiera after his death.

    The pages Kiera illustrated were found after Darby’s death.  She was then found to be “unnatural” for having done them.  People started saying Kiera helped her husband illegally obtain the bodies.  Possibly even killing the people herself.

    Thankfully, with all this untrue gossip floating around, Kiera’s brother and brother-in-law were able to save her from a terrible fate.  Still, the rumors persisted.  Kiera was forced to hide out in Scotland.

    It is at her sister’s home where Kiera’s past comes back to haunt her.  A guest is murdered on the estate.

    Kiera’s sister and brother-in-law, Alana and Philip, Lord and Lady Cromarty, are having a house party.  During it, Lady Godwin is murdered.  Immediately Kiera becomes the main suspect.  The guests have no problem saying their suspicions of her either.  Loudly.  The women in particular.

    This bad behavior is why when Philip asks Kiera to help with the investigation, it has to be kept quiet.  As she is the one with anatomy experience, it makes sense for her to look at the body.  Philip insists this happen when he speaks with the investigator, Sebastian Gage.  This assistance then carries on into the interrogations.

Under Wraps/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    Despite working together, Kiera has a hard time shaking off the feeling Gage sees her as a suspect.  The loud, gossipy ladies do not help this feeling.  Nor does finding an important clue in her art studio.  Kiera knows with this clue she is being framed.  She just has to convince Gage of it.

    Convincing Gage of her innocence becomes even more important when Kiera realizes she is starting to have feelings for him.  These feelings come as a surprise as Gage is known to have a colorful reputation with women.  But, as she gets to know him, she starts to see a different side of Gage.  A caring side.  Something she experiences when she is hit on the head and receives threatening notes.

    Kiera, however, doubts the feelings will be returned.  It is a fact she will have to deal with when the case is over and he leaves.  Once he does, Kiera will be able to go back to the quiet life she has gotten used to living.

    While I enjoyed the mystery and the relationship between Kiera and Gage, my favorite parts were when Alana told off her guests.  They were saying such horrible things about her sister.  A woman named Lady Westlock was particularly nasty.  When Alana put that woman in her place, it was a wonderful scene.

    Even if I didn’t already know there were more books in the series, the last paragraph made it clear this was not a stand-alone novel.  Kiera and Gage are meant to come together again.  I look forward to seeing what happens next.