Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver

St. Martin's Press | September 2016 | 336 pgs

Source: Library

I really enjoyed reading Ashley Weaver's debut mystery, Murder at the Brightwell, which was set in the heart of 1930s high society London. In that novel, Amory Ames has successfully solved a mystery with some assistance from her charismatic husband, Milo, who is also known to be a ladies' man. After what happened at Brightwell Hotel and the things they'd gone through together, Amory is looking forward to reconnecting with Milo but soon find herself drawn into another investigation, hence this book is it.

When Serena Barrington, an old friend of Amory's mother, invited Amory for a dinner at her house one evening, Amory knew she couldn't turn Mrs Barrington down considering her insistence and the fact that they have not crossed paths in years. It soon became clear that Mrs Barrington needs Amory's help to look into the disappearance of her valuable jewelry which have gone missing at a dinner party. With a few regular guests always being invited at Mrs Barrington's parties, she has absolutely no idea who would be the culprit unless they lay a trap to lure him or her out.

With the notorious Viscount Dunmore hosting a lavish masked ball at his house, Mrs Barrington and Amory decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to set their plan in motion. However, before they could lure the thief they are all aghast to discover that one of the party guests is murdered. Is the murder connected to the thievery? Amory intends to find that out herself, together with her old ally, Detective Inspector Jones, whom she knew since the Brightwell case. Meanwhile, she has also caught the attention of Viscount Dunmore as he tries to court her persistently while at the same time rumors about Milo and a French film star begin to swirl around the society.

With the Golden Age mystery elements and a spunky heroine as the draw to this series, I was also enchanted by the author's writing style and her storytelling as she creates intriguing characters and compelling scenarios in each of her book. While I was curious by the mystery, I was also concerned about the relationship between Amory and Milo as the latter often leave Amory with doubts of his faith and love, although to be fair he does show his care and affection towards her at the most unexpected circumstances. Like Amory, I was quite perplexed by Milo's unpredictable state of mind at times but I suspected that this mysterious side of him would come to light eventually as the series progresses. This is a delightful and an addictive series I have come to love the more I read them.

Series in order (though each works as a stand-alone):
Murder at the Brightwell #1
Death Wears a Mask #2
A Most Novel Revenge #3 (Review forthcoming)
The Essence of Malice #4 

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