A Murder in Marylebone

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

After over a decade away, widowed mother of two Minnie Harper has left sunny Greece and returned to her native England at the turn of the 20th century--just as a cloud of suspicion falls over her younger sister in this cozy historical mystery for fans of Jessica Fellowes, Tasha Alexander, Deanna Raybourn, Rhys Bowen, and the PBS series The Durrells in Corfu .

The world is changing at the dawn of the 20th century, but respectable English families still dread a public scandal. So Minnie agrees to accompany her reckless sister, Delia, for a night on the town with her Bohemian friends. The evening involves a raucous house party, a visit to a fortune-teller, and an encounter with a flirtatious baron, but none of that unsettles Minnie more than running into Stephen Dorian, her former employer in Corfu, who stirs in her a mix of resentment and attraction.

Soon after, Delia discovers the body of her rumored beau in his own home, and Minnie insists on playing by the rules and informing the police. After all, fleeing the scene could suggest Delia is guilty of more than an improper late-night rendezvous . . .

When the sisters return to the townhouse, their parents, dreading the threat of gossip, insist that Minnie help clear Delia's name. Her discreet investigation will take her back into Delia's decadent circle and have her crossing paths again with the baron--a collector of antiques--and the infuriating Stephen Dorian. But her new social life is soon overshadowed by dangerous intrigue that leads her to question even her own past . . .

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Kirkus Book Review

A trip home offers an English widow who's been living abroad family stress, romantic befuddlement, and, of course, murder. After many happy years on the Greek island of Corfu, Minnie Harper reluctantly returns to London in 1898 to help her daughter, Cleo, settle into her Hampstead boarding school. Although Minnie stays at her Aunt Agatha's apartment, she spends enough time at her childhood home to realize her father has deteriorated both physically and intellectually in the 15 years since she left. On the other hand, her sister, Delia, who was only a child when Minnie went to Greece, has blossomed into a talented artist. Sadly, Delia's talent comes with a hefty dose of willfulness. Her love affair with shady antiquities dealer Charles Pearson comes to an unhappy end when Charles, who turns out to be married, also turns up dead. Fearing the police will blame Delia, Minnie needs to find out who really killed Charles. She has an ally in mystery writer Stephen Dorian, whose novels she typed back in Corfu to keep her family financially afloat after the death of her husband, Oliver. But Minnie's relationship with Stephen is complicated. Minnie is strongly attracted to Stephen but resents him for suggesting Oliver may have been involved in illegally trafficking Greek antiquities. The will-they, won't-they between Minnie and Stephen sucks up most of the oxygen in Sullivan's narrative. There's a splash available for the rest of the family drama, and just a smidge left over for solving the titular murder. For readers who like their love stories with a suggestion of mystery. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.