Another good mystery for the Petterils to solve in this, the eighth book in this series. There are still problems for the couple, a predictable twist and one niggling issue for me that spoilt my enjoyment somewhat.

Here’s the premise: a small baby is dumped on the Petterils’ doorstep. Whose is it, and why was it left there? The natural assumption is that it’s a by-blow of Piers’, but he denies it. His relations, disapproving of April, suggest maybe it’s hers until Piers points out the discrepancy in age and timing. So the search is on to find the mother… or the father, possibly. The mystery proceeds with some neat twists and turns, leading to a satisfactory resolution. I liked this part of the book very much.

The other element involves April getting broody (not unexpectedly) but seemingly she believes she can’t have children, and she’s discussed this with Piers before they married. Now this really bothered me. I’ve read the whole series to date, and I don’t recall any such discussion. Well, my memory’s not the best, so maybe I’ve just forgotten, but I spent quite a bit of time trawling through previous books looking for any reference to this, only to come up empty-handed. Now this shouldn’t matter, but when something is presented as having occurred earlier, and it’s something so important (Piers is a viscount, after all, so an heir might be important to him), I’d expect it to be memorable… or at least findable. I’m afraid that every time the subject arose, I was so cross that it became very distracting. I’d love to know whether I just missed the earlier discussion or whether it actually wasn’t there.

But that aside, this is another good read, which would have been five stars but for that annoying niggle. So four stars it is.

For the first time, a Petteril book turned out to be slightly less than a perfect read for me. Probably just me in the wrong frame of mind, although it crossed my mind that maybe the series has hit the Mulder and Scully problem – the romantic tension of the early books has evaporated now that the principals are married, and there just isn’t that much drama between them. Added to which, the mystery really wasn’t any great shakes this time. All the tension, such as it was, revolves around April’s history, which isn’t uninteresting, but I didn’t find it as riveting as some of the earlier books.

There were some intriguing new characters, like Great Aunt Prudence and her eccentric entourage, some I would have liked to have seen but didn’t (like Gussie, ill for the whole book), and a fair few that seemed to be repeat characters but I didn’t remember them. But that’s a problem I have with any long-running series, so I’m not going to blame the author for it.

I suspect the biggest problem I had with this book is that it didn’t surprise me at all. April running off looking for trouble and not bothering to tell Piers about it is old news now, and although it may be a necessary stage in the development of their relationship, I just wanted to slap her upside the head sometimes. He’s your husband, dear, so trust him, and let him help you.

All that said, this was still an enjoyable read, and a welcome return of the two ill-assorted lovers. Four stars and I hope the next book is a bit more on my wavelength.

This series just gets better and better. At the end of the last book, Piers and April found themselves in an awkward situation which they resolved by getting married. Now, after an idyllic honeymoon, they return to England to face the music, and explain just why a viscount married an ex-thief from the slums of London. Not that anyone knows April’s full history, but they know she’s basically a servant. Now, dressed for her rank, and behaving like a lady, will she be accepted or will the sky fall in on their heads?

Meanwhile, Piers’ valet, Stewart, has been arrested for stealing a baronet’s purse at the local inn, and our intrepid sleuthing duo have to uncover the truth of what happened that night and rescue Stewart from the false accusation. There’s the usual array of suspects, and the question of who’s telling the truth. I have to say that the mysteries aren’t the main reason I read this series, but they’re always enjoyable to see unravelled. This one is particularly satisfying because when the truth is revealed, it’s a case of ‘oh, of course’ and not ‘oh well, I suppose that makes sense’. I felt that if I’d been bothered to think it through, I’d have worked it out.

But really, I’m here for Piers and April. They’re such an unlikely couple, both damaged and needy in different ways, and yet totally dependent on each other. I’ve said all along that April’s transformation from guttersnipe to servant to lady and now to viscountess is not believable in the slightest. Spread over several years, maybe, but that’s not the case here. And somehow, astonishingly, the servants who had known April as a servant fail to recognise her as the new viscountess. Is that remotely credible? I don’t think so. They might pretend not to remember her previous incarnation, but they would certainly recognise her. I’m reminded of the Downton Abbey housemaid who left to become a secretary, married her boss and returned on a visit as a respectable upper-class wife, and she was certainly recognised. There are certainly times when you can’t place someone when you see them in a different context but you generally know that you know them.

But it’s a small point. Given the big leap in the last book which saw the pair married, all their well-wishers must be glad the author didn’t keep us in suspense as to how things are going to go. I can’t see a smooth path from here on, though. Things are still going to be rocky with the family, and I suspect there’s some serious history to April that’s yet to be uncovered. We shall see. But in the meantime, another well-earned five stars for a highly enjoyable read, and on to the next book in this addictive series.

These books are a constant delight, and thank goodness Mary Lancaster is such a prolific author that hopeful readers never have to wait too long for the next instalment of that ill-assorted pair, Piers and April.

Here’s the premise: Lord Petteril’s cousin, Major Bertie Withan, has disappeared in Portugal in the very short time between arriving in Lisbon and leaving to join his regiment. Since then, nothing has been heard of him, and the locals all think he must be dead. Piers (Lord Petteril) is determined to find out one way or the other, so off he goes to Lisbon with his trusty helper, former thief April, to find out. To deflect awkward questions, Piers is pretending to be a lowly clerk, with April as his wife, although they very chastely step around each other to avoid unnecessary intimacy on the sea voyage to Portugal and at their hotel.

I’ll be honest, and say that I could have done with a bit more background at the start of the book to explain exactly what was going on. I’m never good at remembering plots and characters from earlier books, so I struggled a bit with this one, starting as it did more or less without any explanation. However, the plot burbles along merrily, and we soon have a fine array of locals and military sorts who might have seen Bertie shortly before his disappearance. One of the local aristocracy was murdered on the same night, and there’s a rumour of a duel – but do these mean anything, or are they merely distractions? Or is the key to be found at a local and very unsavoury bordello? As Piers and April investigate, April’s past as a thief and survivor of some pretty unsavoury situations of her own stand her in good stead to make discoveries in her own unorthodox way.

The mystery isn’t really terribly mysterious in the end, but of course the fun is in getting there, and then there’s a surprising little twist at the end although I’m not sure quite how I feel about it. Big, big ramifications for future books, at the very least. If I have a complaint at all about these stories, it’s that April’s progression from uneducated street urchin to a passable sort of lady, complete with accent, manners and reading/writing skills, is simply not credible, and certainly not at the speed depicted here. But that’s my only grumble, and to be honest, the unique relationship between Piers and April far outweighs the implausibility. The mysteries are fun, but I keep reading to see how this unlikely couple eventually resolve the differences between them and find the happy ending they both deserve. An excellent five stars.

Another good outing for our likeable but improbable sleuths, Piers and April. Not a lot of progress on their relationship, but I suspect the author’s going to milk it for all its worth. I have to say, I don’t quite see where the inevitable happy ending is coming from, but we’ll see.

Here’s the premise: new viscount Piers, Lord Petteril, is asked to call in at a friend’s house instead of going direct to his own estate. A portrait of his late father has been damaged, and it’s upsetting for everyone, not least his stepmother, Lady Haggard. His ex-thief ‘assistant’, April, hates the idea; Piers wanted to leave her with Lady Haggard to be trained as a servant, and was only dissuaded after some effort on April’s part. Now she wonders if she should trust him. But Piers is getting a reputation for solving mysteries, so to Lady Haggard’s house party they are to go.

The mystery is the usual thing – a range of suspects, and a great deal of careful questioning and observation by Piers and April. April is able to move between upstairs and downstairs, which makes her particularly useful, and her background as a ne’er-do-well, always looking out for trouble coming her way, makes her very observant. Piers’ relations are well to the fore, as well, including his obnoxious aunt, and his cousin Gussie, a young lady who seems to attract undesirable types like a magnet and frankly is very poorly chaperoned. House parties are notorious for shenanigans, and this one has inordinate numbers of people wandering the upper corridors at night.

The mystery takes a neat twist towards the end of the book, with an explanation that I didn’t see coming but was very satisfying. A very enjoyable five stars, but I still wonder where Piers and April will end up.

The third part of this series of short cosy/Regency mysteries, which are best read in sequence. This episode worked even better than the previous two – not sure whether the author’s getting into her stride now, or whether the characters have just reached a more interesting stage of their relationship, but I have to say I enjoyed this a lot.

Here’s the premise: Piers, the new and still uncertain-in-his-role Viscount Petteril, returns to London with his former thief ‘assistant’ April to solve a murder. An earl’s son has been shot in the home of his mistress, and the main suspect is the mistress’s former protector, and Piers’ friend. As usual, there’s a wonderful array of suspects, surrounded by quirky upper-class characters (somehow it’s never the lower classes who do the murdering), and the solution is satisfying on a number of levels. There’s a nice (if rather surprising) little romance on the side.

But the main interest (for me, anyway) is the development between Piers and April. The murder is loosely connected to April’s past, so we learn a little bit of her history, although I suspect there’s more to come. The two have always had an unusually close relationship for an aristocrat and an uneducated employee, rooted in the fact that they met when they were both at low points in their lives. They helped each other to move forward, and because of that have developed an intimacy that is clearly problematic. Something happens in this book that throws this into stark relief and they have to decide whether to continue their odd relationship or not. Needless to say (because there’s at least one more book to come, and the series could be spun out indefinitely) they stay together. But it remains to be seen whether that will work out, and how they resolve the problem in the end.

A most enjoyable read, without the implausibilities and pesky editing errors that plagued book 2, so I’m going for the full monty this time. Five stars.