| Title | : | A Death in Norfolk (Captain Lacey, #7) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 2940013302648 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Nook |
| Number of Pages | : | 280 |
| Publication | : | First published October 19, 2011 |
A Death in Norfolk (Captain Lacey, #7) Reviews
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Review written October 1, 2016
4 Stars - Solid good Captain Lacey mystery solving. I both sniffed and tittered. I enjoyed !!
Book #7
At last was a new audiobook here with a historical crime adventure in one of my absolutely favorite series lately,
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries — 6:49 hrs narrated by a terrific pro voice in
James Gillies as always. My eight audiobook in this series and I have been enjoying them all a lot so far.
Norfolk, England in September 1817
Our beloved hero Captain Gabriel Lacey travels to his boyhood home in northern Norfolk only to discover mysterious happenings in and around the Lacey estate.
Soon there is a missing person, missing valuable paintings and missing church silver, etc etc. Our amateur sleuth Captain Lacey is 'linking' between it all trying to solve more than one crime puzzle, get some niiiice time with his beloved travel companion (the Dowager Viscountess aka:) Lady Donata Breckenridge, and in the same time also start the project to restore and renovate his childhood home. Busy times... poor stressed Captain.
Old interesting friends, as the very popular dandy Lucius Grenville, Gabriel's loyal manservant Bartholomew, the sassy beautiful actress Marianne Simmons and other acquaintances (slash enemies) as the dangerous dark-souled James Denis soon arrives in our story. The mysteries just gets more and more complicated life's are treated and the exciting action / suspense increases. — Wow, grabbing my earbuds again...
The series, author / pen-name, my reviews:
Once again totally intrigued, like "can't stop listening" hooked, into a (jolly) good English whodunnit mystery case. Yay! Ms Garder/Ashley for sure know her 'thing'. Recommended cozy historical crime fiction in the "lighter" genre ...with a small added piece of love and romance feeling to it. Perfect for me!!
I LIKE - the combo Captain Lacey &
James Gillies -
First Sentence: In September, amidst a driving rain that swept across the northern Norfolk coast, my hired coach rolled up the drive to my ancestral home and deposited me at the house’s front door.
Captain Gabriel Lacey travels with Dowager Viscountess Breckenridge, his future wife, to a house party in Norfolk. His family estate is also there, although not filled with warm memories. He also agreed to deliver a message from the criminal James Denis, to whom Gabriel is beholden, to a fellow estate owner, Brigadier Easton. The message causes Easton to flee the country, with Lacey’s help. What Lacey didn’t expect was becoming involved in a hunt for precious paintings, seeking the murderer of one man and trying to locate another.
The first sentence is a true example of how wonderfully Gardner creates a sense of place, time and atmosphere. The first chapter is a compelling indication of the mystery to come.
This is a series I discovered fairly early on. After each I wait anxiously for the next book. This was a particularly long wait—five years between books—but it was worth it.
Ashley has created an ensemble of wonderful characters. Lacey, whose childhood was anything but happy and whose military experience was anything but peaceful and left him injured; his friend Grenville, a wealthy, Beau Brummell-type; Matthias, Grenvile’s valet; Bartholomew, who worked under Matthias but now serves as butler for Lacey, and the lovely Donata, Lacey’s love. And then there’s Denis, to whom Lacey is beholden and an interesting character, indeed.
What is really well done is that new readers are given a solid back-story on the characters so as not to be lost, but even those who’ve been following the series learn much more about the characters than previously known. As well as the human characters, I appreciate an author who uses the weather as almost another character.
At the core is a really solid mystery with very good suspense. Lacey is an understandably strong character, given his background, yet his injury provides a challenge he must often work around. He is also a bridge between the hard world he has known and the society world of his intended.
“A Death in Norfolk” is an excellent book in a series that should be much better known. As always, I recommend reading the series from the beginning but, most of all, I recommend reading it.
A DEATH IN NORFOLK (Hist Mys-Captain Gabriel Lacey-England-1817) –Ex
Gardner, Ashley – 7th in series
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries – ©2011 -
I found book three so plodding and boring that I decided to skip ahead several books in the series to find out whether the plot advances form a morose, sad Captain Lacey.
To my pleasant surprise I found this seventh book, "A Death in Norfolk" very engaging with Lacey now engaged to the intelligent and quick-witted Lady Breckenridge. Lacey's rise in fortunes was very heartwarming and I was delighted that cloying hideous Brandons were absent from the story.
The plot was far more invested in the murder mysteries and reveal more of the complexity of Captain Lacey's complex allegiance with the criminal mastermind, James Denis. I enjoyed seeing Lacey, Denis and Grenville working together to solve several randomly connected mysteries including murder, art thief, missing accomplices, and a ten year-old disappearance of a local woman.
The low point of the story for me was when Marianne, now Grenville's mistress, slithered into the story to leash Grenville like a whipped puppy; his slavish devotion to Marianne is sickening to behold.
But overall, this book was a nice, enjoyable mystery. -
When Captain Lacey decides to visit his family home, Lacey Estates, he is in for a lot of surprises.
Lady Breckinridge goes with him when he visits the family estate, and together they discover strange things are happening, as he tries to do what he can to salvage his property.
He runs into the “gentleman criminal,” James Denis, and together they work on uncovering missing items. Of course, working with Denis, one can expect trouble to ensue. -
Captain Gabriel Lacey, veteran of the Peninsular War in Regency era England, injured, prey to melancholia, retired on half pay, lives a hand-to-mouth existence in rooms over a bakery in Covent Garden. Until one day a girl goes missing, possibly kidnapped, possibly by a member of Parliament. In the brutal rough-and-tumble that is Regency England's underworld, no one cares what happened to her. Except Gabriel.
Which is pretty much the plot of all of these novels. In this, the seventh in the series, Gabriel goes home to Norfolk with his affianced bride to check out his ancestral home, abandoned after his father died and in great need of repair before they move in. He also carries with him a missive from Denis to one of Denis' many minions, which causes the minion to decamp forthwith and mayhem to ensue.
Gabriel is such a good, decent guy, who wants the world to be better than it is and who is so determined to make the occasional corner of it so, you can't help but like and admire him and cheer him on. The cast of characters includes Grenville, heir to Brummel whose acquaintance with Gabriel moves from fashion to friendship, Marianne, the annoying actress-slash-courtesan who lives upstairs from Gabriel, Pomeroy, Gabriel's ex-sergeant and a Bow Street Runner bent on profit, James Denis, the cold-eyed king of London's criminal class, Lady Breckenridge, Gabriel's acid-tongued, billiard-playing, cigarillo-smoking love interest, friend Louisa Brandon, her husband and Gabriel's foe Aloysius Brandon, and more.
This isn't Jane Austen's England, it isn't even Georgette Heyer's, it's grimy and smelly and terrifying and tragic. Justice, try as Gabriel might, is not always done. Also, Gabriel never wins a fight, he is always getting the crap kicked out of him by somebody, which leads me to wonder how he made such a successful soldier. But that's all the criticism I got. Fun. -
Book Seven of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries.
This book was really exciting -- the book is filled with bad guys and you aren't sure which of the bad guys is the really bad guy!
I was glad to see that the Brandon's weren't in this book. I know they've had a resolution of sorts, but I still don't like them.
We learn a lot more about James Denis in this book -- or do we? He finally calls in some of his markers with Lacey -- and it is a good thing for him that he does.
Lacey and Lady Breckenridge travel to Norfolk to get a look at what is left of Lacey's family home and to get an idea of the renovations required to make it habitable. Lacey and Lady Breckenridge have agreed to attend a house party at a friend of Lady Breckenridge's (who lives in the Norfolk area) so they'll have a place to stay while they are evaluating the house.
A hoard of James Dennis' men show up soon after Lacey has arrived and start tearing up the home of a neighbor looking for paintings that the owner has stolen from Denis. They also descend on Lacey's home to do the same thing. So -- Lacey lets them -- after all he'd have to pay to have all of that demolished and this was free.
One of Denis' men is killed and another disappears. Denis is fearful that the man who has disappeared has been killed as well and wants to find him. Lacey is, of course, the one chosen by Denis to solve the mystery.
As always, there is another sub-plot going on at the same time as the main plot. This time, it is the mystery of a local woman who disappeared.
This is an excellent book and I'm sure you'll like it too. Each book in the series seems to be more exciting than the last. -
This series just keeps getting better and I like that all the characters are becoming more complicated. Captain Lacey is a very interesting mixture of temper and justice, dogheadness and love. His friends and fiancée are also out of the ordinary with great capacity for lover and friendship yet have their flaws. (the Grenville-Marianne thing is getting a little trying).
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Nice to see Lacey's childhood home at last, and get a little (very little) more background on Denis.
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A great surprise ending. The cover art of this series makes you think that the stories will be silly romance novels. However, don’t be deceived these are good historical mysteries.
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This was another wonderful addition to the Captain Lacey series. Gabriel decides to head home to his ancestral roots and show his fiancé, the beautiful Donata where he grew up. Of course, with the house not being lived in, it is going to need a lot of work. But of course before the first nail is hit, murder and mayhem soon follows as Lacey ends up delivering a message to a local magistrate from Denis a man that Lacey loves to hate, but his honor insist that he must fulfill a debt to the hateful man. When one of Denis's men ends up dead, of course Lacey is expected to find the killer. Gabriel also finds out some disturbing things about his mother and lets him know he didn't know her as well as he thought. Even though these books are in a cozy format, it didn't feel like a cozy as there was a lot of attention to detail paid to the surroundings and the people of Norfolk. It was a very satisfying read and lots of mysteries for Lacey and the rest of us to get wrapped in to try and find a killer.
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Captain Lacey is back, and James Denis calls in one of his "favors"...
Lacey has agreed to attend a country house party with his paramour, Lady Breckenridge. Lady B and Lacey are making plans to marry in the new year, and Lady B wants Lacey to meet an old frenemy of hers in the country. The estate happens to be near where Lacey grew up, in Norfolk, so Lacey takes the opportunity to revisit his boyhood home, now falling in ruins since his father spent every last dime and then some of the Lacey money. But James Denis demands that Lacey work off part of his "debt" by having Lacey call upon a neighbor (Easton) and deliver a message from Denis. Of course, Lacey reads the message first, as Denis knows he will. But Lacey can't understand the cryptic sentence, so he delivers the message, as asked.
Except that once Easton receives the message instantly blanches and tells Lacey that the message is really a message from Denis that he'll have Easton killed. So Lacey helps Easton get away in the night... and then faces Denis' thugs (Cooper and Ferguson) in the morning at Easton's home. Seems that Easton had been hiding away some very valuable paintings that belong to Denis, and Denis' message was to let Easton know that Denis wasn't sitting still.
Cooper and Ferguson start demolishing Easton's house, on orders from Denis, who himself arrives to take up residence in Easton's home. (Turns out Denis owns the home, too.) In the meantime, Cooper and Ferguson have orders to demolish Lacey's abandoned home, too, since Easton might have hidden the paintings there, knowing that no one was in residence. (Really? That seemed a bit far-fetched to me.) But Lacey knows that he can't keep the home in its current condition, and because his father was such a nasty brute, who beat both Lacey and his mother, Lacey hasn't any qualms about tearing his boyhood home apart. Donata Breckinridge, wonderful lady that she is, has decided that she wants to live in Lacey's boyhood home and has the funds to restore it. So she puts in her two cents about how to keep the home's "good bones" and still accomplish what Denis and Lacey want - to tear the place apart.
But in the search for the painting, Lacey discovers a mysterious debutante's dress in his mother's old dressing room... and the bludgeoned body of Ferguson in his family's windmill... and Cooper seems to be missing. Denis refuses to believe that Cooper killed Ferguson. And here's where Denis reveals some of his own history to Lacey: Denis alludes to being an orphan, who at 7 was taken in by a woman who "liked boys" and taught him how to steal from the places where she was a maid. Denis ran away from her to the streets of London, where he survived until the age of 10 as a pickpocket, when he chose to pick the wrong pocket -- Cooper's pocket, to be exact. Cooper had just been set down as the heavy-weight boxer of his era, and seeing something of use in Denis, Cooper took Denis in and taught him about survival. Denis, even at the age of 10, was a smart lad, and he was soon the brains behind Cooper's brawn. Denis' schemes not only kept Cooper and Denis alive, they eventually landed Denis in the role of "Underworld Lord" - the man who could get anything, for the right price. Denis' loyalty to Cooper is as a mentor and friend, but Lacey thinks it's misplaced loyalty.
Then there's the strange goings on at the country house party. Lady B's husband liked to flaunt his mistresses and indiscretions in her face, so Lady B is putting Lacey to a test with her frenemy. She knows that her frenemy will attempt to seduce Lacey, and she wants to see what he does. Lacey, of course, is on to the scheme, and not only has no interest in the vulgar "lady", but evades her easily on duty for Denis. Grenville has joined the house party, but he, too, escapes its vulgarity and drudgery by assisting Lacey. Lady B has to own up to her scheme, especially when Lacey asks her to leave and go to her son, Peter. Denis has threatened the lives of all Lacey's friends, and especially Lady B and her son, when Lacey tells Denis that he's done - he won't work off this "debt" to Denis any longer -- Denis can go hang.
But Denis is persistent. Especially after Lacey discovers a severed hand that Denis identifies as belonging to Cooper.
While all of this is going on, Lacey's trying to track down the debutante to whom the gown in his mother's dressing room belongs. It seems that this Helena Quinn eloped with a stranger 10 years ago, leaving her cousin who was at Waterloo in the lurch. Helena also managed to make off with the silver from her father, the vicar's, church. And Lady B finds a diary belonging to Lacey's mother... a diary that indicates that his mother had an affair with a much younger man and contemplated running off with the man. The diary also mentions that his mother had hopes of "increasing", perhaps with a daughter this time. Who is this mysterious man? What connection is there between his mother and Helena Quinn? Lacey learns more than he ever wants to know... and has to fight off the specter of his horrid father and the anger at knowing that his mother chose to stay behind for him rather than seek her happiness in scandal.
AND THEN... we have to get back to the mystery of Cooper... We see another side to Denis, and through the turn of events, it seems obvious to me that Lacey more than works off any indebtedness to Denis. But does Denis see it that way? Will Lacey be free of him now? Sure, there will always be some connection between Lacey and Denis, and Denis will, no doubt, seek to put Lacey back into his debt. But nothing much is said about their current "debts" being settled. And that unsettles me.
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I like that we see even more backbone from Lady B. I like that we know that Lacey will find happiness with her. I like that we discover more about Denis and how he might have become who he is; although even Lacey knows better than to take everything Denis says to him at face value. What can Lacey prove about Denis' past? Probably nothing. But it does help Lacey and the readers understand more. Some resolution is found with Marianne and Grenville, since she finally shares her secret with him - about time! And as we, the readers knew all along, Grenville wouldn't be the high-handed person Marianne and even Lacey feared he might be. He interferes, of course, but in the best of ways.
But as I said, the various mysteries in this book, while entertaining and enlightening, served only as the means for furthering the life stories of Lacey and Denis. Everything happens so quickly and so violently, it's tough to get much of a handle on the who's and why's... Although we aren't in doubt, this time, of who the culprit is in the main case. In the secondary mystery of Helena Quinn, a bittersweet tale emerges, and Lacey is able to right the wrongs of the past in a way that prevents the naive and innocent from being exposed to harsh justice. -
I inhaled this in a day; it is just so easy to read - which is not easy to write, I can tell you.
Now he has a fancy fiancée, he decides he might renovate his tumbledown estate. And of course, nothing quite goes the way he planned. Denis orders him to deliver a message to the local magistrate, who opens it, freaks out and runs for it. The man has been stupid enough to steal from Denis; oh boy. A small squad of bully boys descend on the town and start smashing out the panelling in both the townhouse and Lacey’s house looking for misappropriated goods.
I adored Donata steering them into doing half the reno knockdown for them. lol
By now, Denis’ business partner is gone, then an ex champion boxer is found beaten to death in a mill, and his most trusted lieutenant is missing. He comes down himself and demands Lacey, sort it out. He drags Grenville out of an estate party to help.
Lacey is distracted by unhappy memories, learns more about his parents, and notices a debutante gown left in his mother’s sitting room. It might belong to a missing local girl?
5 stars
So far this year, my library saved me A$2106.05 -
Captain Gabriel Lacey visits his old home to find in poor and neglected shape and when he delivers note to a neighbor from James Denis the results is that he whisks the neighbor away for his own protection. Then Denis shows up with his gang of toughs and begins to tear apart the neighbors home searching for some paintings. The search then moves to Lacey's home and while dismayed he takes advantage of the help to get rid of ruined and broken paneling and damaged timbers. He also learns of the disappearance of a village woman he knew as a young girl, makes some surprise discoveries and is again put to work against his wishes by Denis to find one of missing and second in command who has gone missing. He learns things about the village residents that he did not know and in doing so had to compromise his conscience to some extent from the black and white strictness to a bit of gray to fit the circumstances. This one was a good and fast read.
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-4 stars. good mystery, i wasnt able to predict any of it.
"he'd beaten me for every sin, real and imagined. he'd been trying to make me obedient, and instead had made me rebellious."
"denis had chosen control. his early life had given him none, and so he'd learned to wrest control from those who'd tried to rule him."
"men are who they are. we try to make them into something they are not, and then they are astonished when they turn out not to be what we wanted. we betray ourselves."
"i'd fallen in love with him... no, truth to tell, i was infatuated and flattered by him. no one else had said the things to me that he did. to realize that i'd fallen for his pack of lies, that he'd used me ... it hurt."
"life had a strange way of tearing apart one's convictions." -
I love the voice of James Gillis as he narrates “A Death in Norfolk” by Ashley Gardner (Jennifer Ashley). Obviously I listened to the audiobook for this one as I’ve been working. An intricate, breathtaking mystery. Captain Lacey is a uniquely strong minded, logically thinking, ex-military man with morals and heart. With his history with James Dennis and their love/hate relationship, they both gained insight on the others past & what makes a person act the way they do. Excellent writing and narrating for a grand adventure! 😍
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Can you go home again? Lacy finds out the answer this age old question. I am amazed at the situations that Lacy's nemesis/benefactor Mr. Denis draws him into. So many times in Norfolk Lacy could have rid himself of Denis's interference in his life --now they are inextricably glued together by secrets they share. Lacy, Lacy, Lacy.
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I waited a month to read this book. Patient but impatient until it was finally purchased by the library. I nearly read it in one sitting. The characters evolve and are developed beautifully, Captain Lacey learns to be even less rigid in he perception of right and wrong. And we see why Mr. Denis trust no one. Great book.
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Taut and Richly Detailed
I love this series. Captain Lacey is a complex and intriguing man, haunted by the past but determined to live life as he chooses. The mysteries align with historical events but have themes that resonate with today's world. These are great books to curl up with a cup of cocoa and your pets for an evening in. -
The "Captain Lacey" series by Ashley Gardener is a lot of fun to read. I recommend that you read them in order to appreciate the storyline that spans the various books. (Actually they are more like novellas.) Captain Lacey is a character worth getting to know. I enjoy books from this era which adds to the enjoyment.
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Lacey returns to his home estate, which has fallen into ruin. While there, he becomes involved in one of Denis's business affairs, which ends up with a missing person, a dead body, and a decades old mystery to boot. I liked the part where Lacey and Denis are trapped together. We get to see an interested side of Denis.
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Still enjoying this series. Capt. Lacey returns to his roots in this episode only to uncover secrets about his parents, investigate an unsolved missing person as well as a recent murder. The supporting characters are becoming more and more likable as well.
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The author really likes cramming the same characters into every book, whether they make sense in there or not, but I like the characters, so I'm not complaining too much. I liked the whole atmosphere, setting, and plot here.
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Lacey starts working on his old home. I liked that we learn more about Denis, but the story was just ok.
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Truly awful....
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This book gives us some background on Gabriel's family life and where he came from.
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Best of this series so far as I'm concerned. I liked the others I've read but this one is better.
