| Title | : | A Body in Berkeley Square (Captain Lacey, #5) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0425207285 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780425207284 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 252 |
| Publication | : | First published December 6, 2005 |
A Body in Berkeley Square (Captain Lacey, #5) Reviews
-
This is the fifth book in the series.
Captain Lacey attends a society party, and gets involved in a murder! His good friend Louisa is there with her husband, Colonel Brandon.
Colonel Brandon is a former friend and mentor to Captain Lacey, but they are now hardly on speaking terms. Nonetheless, Captain Lacey is determined to help him because of his good friendship with the wife. -
London 1816: Ein Mord am Berkeley Square schockiert Londons beste Gesellschaft. In einem Ballsaal wird die Leiche von Henry Turner entdeckt; er wurde brutal erstochen. Das Messer, mit dem er getötet wurde, gehört Colonel Brandon. Schnell scheint klar zu sein, dass nur er als Mörder in Frage kommt. Captain Gabriel Lacey glaubt jedoch nicht an seine Schuld und beginnt, Fragen zu stellen...
Mein Leseeindruck:
Ich lese sehr gerne Krimis und mag diese Suche nach dem Täter sehr gerne. Ich rätsel gerne mit und genieße es, wenn die Puzzleteile langsam ein immer klareres Bild ergeben.
Bei diesem Krimi konnte ich wieder sehr gut in die Geschichte eintauchen und war quasi bei der Ermittlungsarbeit von Captain Lacey live dabei.
Ein Bonus war hier noch, dass die Geschichte 1816 spielt in den "besseren Kreisen" Londons. Ich mag diese Atmosphäre sehr, die die Autorin hier gut vermitteln konnte.
Der Schreibstil ist auch sehr angenehm, einfach und leicht. Es ist ein Krimi zum Entspannen; nicht sehr anspruchsvoll, aber schön. -
I loved how intricately twisted this plot was - Colonel Brandon drives me bonkers and I was often frustrated by his stiff-necked insistance to frame himself for murder! This is one of those occassions where you slap yourself in the forehead in the last quarter or so in the book and say, "OH! THAT'S why he's being an idiot!" because all the pieces of the puzzle are starting to click in your brain. Ms Gardner has a gift for spinning her plots in such a way that you really can't be sure what in the world is happening, but you're willing to go with it, and in the end, everything becomes crystal clear. In the mean time, you have amazingly complex characters you are more than half in love with by book 5.
-
Review written April 16, 2016
4.2 Stars - Clever wonderful for excellent mystery listening
Book #5
My sixth audiobook in this series (8 hrs narrated by
James Gillies) and I'm equally pleased that the five previous times.
*********************************************
London 1817
Captain Gabriel Lacey's former friend, Colonel Brandon is the prime suspect of a murder. It seems very strange, surprising and truly completely unbelievable. - Of course our Captain need to be involved in the investigation.
This fifth full length part is as enjoying as always. I love to be there in the middle of a adventure when a new clever murder is solved by my favorite historical amateur sleuth,
Captain Gabriel Lacey. ~ It feels like coming home to old dear acquaintances when starting a new installment. It is a great basic storyline here with our (40 years mature) captain's wise friends (as Lucius Grenville), his beloved strong women (by now: Marianne, Louisa, Donata - 3 very admirable women) and his ever-valiant struggle for fairness and justice. ...With a poor sore knee and an often heartbreaking aching heart.
The series, author / pen-name, my reviews:
Narrator, the audiobooks
I truly like
James Gillies narration style, it fit perfect to male voiced mysteries in a bit light and old-fashioned historical genre. Gillies is lovely grumpy as our bighearted gorgeous hero. Gillies' femake voices are maybe a bit silly cheesy. Nevertheless he is a great narrator to enjoy.
I just want more and more. The next part is already waiting there.
*********************************************
I LIKE - my Captain -
In this Captain Lacey book, we learn more about Colonel Brandon and the time period where he wanted to annul his marriage to his wife, Louisa, who hasn't able to bear Brandon children. We get there by way of the murder of Mr. Turner at a Season ball, for which Brandon is arrested. At this particular ball, Brandon made a real cake of himself with a Mrs. Imogen Harper, the widow of an officer who served in the Pennisular Wars with Brandon and Lacey. And, a woman who had an affair with Brandon shortly after her husband's death -- Brandon's plans to annul his marriage to Louisa had to do with his deciding to take up full time with Mrs. Harper in hopes of stocking his (Brandon's) nursery with heirs.
At this ball, Mr. Turner is obviously being obnoxious towards Mrs. Harper, which seems odd, since Mr. Turner is a young buck of an age with Leland Derwent and pals. Brandon can't seem to help but get between Mrs. Harper and Mr. Turner at every turn. So when Mr. Turner is found dead in a side room with Brandon's knife in his heart... and Grenville witnesses Mrs. Harper screaming over Turner's body, blood on her glove... it becomes the on dit of the Season. Brandon stubbornly refuses to answer questions and is summarily thrown into Newgate to await trial. He angrily tells Lacey to leave it alone. But we know that Lacey cannot. If for no other reason, Lacey's loyalty to Louisa compels him to discover the truth. Besides, Lacey doesn't believe that Brandon murdered Turner in such a sloppy fashion as to leave his own knife behind.
Brandon confesses to an affair with Mrs. Harper, who confirms that the affair took place. Lacey realizes that Turner was blackmailing Brandon and Mrs. Harper. Lacey locates 3 recent letters from Mrs. Harper to Brandon that hint of the affair, but also point to some mysterious dealings between them that could take both Brandon and Mrs. Harper down. While Lacey is trying to decipher what those dealings might be beyond the scandal of their affair, an unknown Frenchman - obviously an officer - attacks Lacey and makes off with the letters. Lacey no longer believes that the blackmail is only about an affair, for why would a French officer be involved? And somehow involved with James Denis, who also wants whatever Mrs. Harper and the French officer are looking for.
Brandon won't talk to anyone, not even his wife Louisa. He stubbornly insists that Lacey leave it alone and take the spoils of his wife. Lacey realizes that Brandon's jealousy all of these years over his relationship with Louisa goes much deeper than just thinking that Lacey took Louisa's side over his. As we all have realized without the proof up to this point, Brandon's jealousy stems from his own indiscretion and affair, thus he believes that the loyalty and love between Lacey and Louisa can only mean that they've had an affair, too.
Louisa is beside herself. At one point, she throws herself at Lacey, begging him to take her France and away from all of this horror. She tries to tempt him by telling him they can look for Lacey's wife and his daughter, who Denis has told him are near Lyon, France. If Lacey wasn't romantically involved with Lady Breckenridge, he probably would have flung himself head-long into an affair with Louisa and done just as she asked, leaving Brandon to swing for a murder he didn't commit. But because Lacey is in love with Lady B, he's wise enough to see that his love for Louisa is beyond a romantic liaison that they would both come to regret in time and that would likely snuff out any love and friendship between them.
So Lacey pursues the trail with Grenville, Bartholomew, Matthias, Pomeroy and his Bow Street Runners, and even the Derwents. It's a twisted trail of the young Mr. Turner, who, despite careful appearances is not only an "unnatural", but also a master blackmailer. The French officer was an obsession with Mr. Turner, and when he couldn't have him, Turner took some papers from the French officer -- dangerous papers that point to treason and intrigue that involve Mrs. Harper's husband, the French officer, and even Mrs. Harper and Brandon.
Can Lacey find the real killer in time to keep Brandon from swinging?
--------------
I liked this book a lot, because Brandon has been such a beast, it was nice to see Lacey put him in his place. Because as much as Lacey has hated Brandon for all that he did to Louisa and then to him (Lacey), Lacey has true honor and nobility. He's given the chance to rub Brandon's face in his past sins -- sins that caused Brandon to try to abandon Louisa, which led to Brandon sending Lacey off to be killed; instead, Lacey survived the mission, but lost the use of his left knee after being tortured. Lacey could let Brandon swing and run off with Louisa. But he doesn't. And know Brandon is indebted to Lacey, which has to anger him that much more.
Poor Louisa! She must truly be a strong woman to survive this, although at the end, we're unsure where she stands. She seems to stand by Brandon, although will they remain together? And now she's embarrassed at throwing herself at Lacey, so she's not talking to him or seeing him... and yet, we get the feeling that this is temporary.
Thank heavens for Grenville! Although the drama with Marianne is a bit much... Although we do have a bit more revelation about Grenville's life, as it concerns a young actress. Is she Marianne's rival or something else? (And that glimpse is very small, and IMO, not done well; we don't have much to go on until Grenville, himself, tells us the truth, and that's not very sporting of the author.)
Lady B! So glad that she's not quite the "proper" widow, and that her affection for Lacey and his for her is not only mutual, but growing. There's a chance for happiness for Lacey yet!
The book is somewhat esoteric at times... the convoluted motives of the murderer are almost completely hidden, yet we suspect whodunnit early on. Is the author trying to be too clever and leave the reader out of the solution? Hmmm... I can forgive some of that, because Lacey makes the right decisions and truly has a chance for happiness in future books. -
A murder at a party where Colonel Brandon is arrested for the deed AND is revealed to have cheated on Louisa? Throw in Grenville having a seemingly weird connection to an actress, Marianne throwing a fit, and Gabriel finding out more about where his wife is and this one is a page-turner.
-
Love Gabriel Lacey!
-
At a ball in Berkeley Square a body is found, stabbed with the knife of Captain Lacey's former commander and friend Colonel Brandon.
Lacey is determined to find the true murderer even without the help of Brandon. Why? What is Brandon hiding?
A good story, ready for the next one. -
This is simply an outstanding series in every regard.
-
A Body in Berkeley Square by Ashley Gardner is book 5 of the Captain Lacey mystery series set in Regency London. Colonel Brandon was long ago a close friend and mentor of Lacey. Brandon turned against Lacey and nearly got him killed in battle. Postwar, Brandon continues to resent Lacey, due to Lacey's long-standing friendship with Louisa, Brandon's wife.
When Brandon is accused of murder, and refuses to defend himself, it seems the way is clear for Lacey and Louisa to be together. But Lacey has more honor than that; he believes Brandon is innocent, and he feels compelled to find the killer. The first secret Lacey uncovers is an affair Brandon had (while married to Louisa). Once that is public, it is puzzling that there is still someone hunting for a personal letter written to Brandon, presumably by his mistress. Brandon's affair explains his suspicion of Lacey and Louisa's friendship; he imagines they have as few scruples as he did. But what is the deeper secret revealed in the letter?
All the familiar characters are back (Marianne, Grenville, Pomeroy, Bartholomew, Matthias, James Denis, Lady Breckenridge) in this enjoyable and rewarding tale that fills in details from Lacey's past as well as advancing his current relationships. Be sure to read this great series in order. -
Some days I don’t know why Lacey bothers to rescue Louisa and her boofhead husband. [I am very tired of them indeed.] Brandon has mortally embarrassed his wife by ignoring her at a Ton ball, paraded about the room with a woman he now declares is his mistress, stopped men dancing with her! Then the man Harper, he ‘cut’ and challenged to a duel is found murdered in a waiting room, stabbed with Col Brandon’s knife! Scandal of the year!
And he is going to hang for murder. And he seems just too thick to work it out.
But Lacey does not believe it. He also knows that if lets Brandon hang, Louisa will never forgive him.
888
Honestly Lacey, just move on with your life... and thankfully, he starts making steps towards another romance. Phew.
All the usual crowd are here; Marianne and Grenville are fighting over his interest in a new young actress. The victim was a blackmailer and many people had reasons to kill him. Denis has found Lacey’s wife and daughter living in France.
4 so good stars
so far this year my library has saved me A$836.69 -
A Body in Berkeley Square is another of the fabulous regency mysteries written by Jennifer Ashley writing as Ashley Gardner! Every one of these fascinating mysteries is so multifaceted that the pieces don’t even begin to fall together until the very last. This one, as with all her others, keeps you guessing regarding who did it, how they did it, and why they did it by taking you into the mind of the killer. Excellent mysteries, for any age, highly recommend! 😍
-
Holy Idiotic Brandon! Colonel Brandon gets in hot water protecting a former lover and is arrested for murder. Arrogant man. Captain Lacy, in spite of all that Brandon has done to him, goes about trying to save Brandon from the noose. Well we know Lacy was going to act honorable if only for Louisa's sake but seriously wanted to strangle Brandon.
-
OMG my favorite book of the series yet. All the characters have made real development and stopped being two dementional cut-outs of Regency England time period people. And have fully flurish, and shown interpersonal interaction and deep emtional connection. Plus people are finally actually communicating and resolving issues. It was amazing and is a high point in the series so far for me.
-
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.
-
-a tall very narrow book, i dont care for this paperback format.
"basil stokes was the sort of man who said whatever he liked and then laughed afterward to soften the blow."
"she does have strength. she can stand up to me and tell me to go to the devil."
"so very few men would prize that in a lady." -
Captain Lacey has done it again! He finds himself drawn into solving another murder, and this time he is trying to clear his former commander of the crime. Definitely another strong entry in the Captain Lacey series and I have already started the next installment!
-
Watching this dynamic “friendship” has been the ultimate in frustration! I teetered so much on how i felt about him being in love with his past friends wife. I am delighted in the Captains honor once again shining through no matter what.
-
Lacey comes to the rescue when Colonel Brandon, his one-time mentor, is accused of murder. The case allowed Lacey to work through some of his issues with the Brandons and he makes some headway in his relationship with Donata.
-
Captain Lacey is again embroiled in a mystery, this time it is to prove Colonel Brandon is not guilty of murder while at a society ball. More truths are aired and secrets are unveiled as Lacey works to find what actually happened at the ball.
-
I liked this better than #4.
Plot: Lacey is back in London, more lady Breckinridge. Colonel Brandon is accused of a murder. Found out that Grenville has a daughter. -
Well crafted mystery. I’m liking Capt. Lacey more and more with each book. This one was plotted very intricately. There are quite a few characters, but I had no trouble keeping up with who was who.
-
A fast fun read
