Review & Giveaway: Lady Rosamund and the Horned God by Barbara Monajem

Series: A Rosie and McBrae Regency Mystery #2
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes, though not recommended by the author
Publisher: Level Best Books
Source: the pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: April 20th, 2021
Buying Links: Amazon* | Google Books |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Widowed Lady Rosamund spends the first months of her mourning in the Lake District, where it’s safe and peaceful, and murders are exceedingly rare. Luckily, she is rescued from this tedium by a house party comprised of playwrights, poets, and actors—an immoral set of persons with whom no respectable lady should associate. Even so, she hardly expected to wake in the wee hours to find one of the guests lying dead.

As if that wasn’t troublesome enough, Gilroy McBrae is at the same party, masquerading as a footman to investigate a series of thefts. Was the sudden death an accident—or murder? Almost everyone had reason to loathe their unpleasant fellow guest. Rosie must set aside her confused emotions about McBrae and work with him to find the culprit before an innocent person is accused of the crime.

My Thoughts:

I like historical cozy mysteries and female sleuths so this book caught my eye, and the title was a plus as I've always been a fan of mythology. 

The events in this book occur a few months after the first book. Lady Rosamund and her friend Cynthia are spending time at the home of Rosamund's father when they are invited to a house party hosted by an actor and his mistress. Rosamund is ready for some excitement but gets more than she planned when a murder happens at the party. With the help of McBrae, an ally she met in book one, she tries to determine what happened while also trying to help her friend Cynthia deal with some major life changes. There's also a thief to stop, her mother and brother to handle, her mental health to monitor, and confusing feelings for Gilroy McBrae to sort out.

Monajem brings the characters to life vividly. Rosamund is a fascinating character - she's asexual but has burgeoning feelings for McBrae (that seems contradictory so I'm curious to see how Monajem handles it), has obsessive compulsive disorder (though it wasn't recognized as such back then), and a developing awareness of classism and social inequality, yet she is also arrogant and judgmental in her position as the daughter of an earl. She's keenly aware of her status and enjoys it, but is gradually becoming more aware and more compassionate and working to eliminate her snobbery. She's also a mix of naivete and worldliness, strength and vulnerability.

The mysteries were engaging, with plenty of suspects and hints to the keep the reader guessing. Rosamund and McBrae make a good team and the cast of characters is fleshed out and quirky. "Lady Rosamund and the Horned God" was entertaining and engaging.

About the author ~ 

Winner of the Holt Medallion, Maggie, Daphne du Maurier, Reviewer’s Choice and Epic awards, Barbara Monajem wrote her first story at eight years old about apple tree gnomes. She published a middle-grade fantasy when her children were young. When they grew up, she turned to writing for adults, first the Bayou Gavotte paranormal mysteries and then Regency romances with intrepid heroines and long-suffering heroes (or vice versa). Some of her Regencies have magic in them and some don’t (except for the magic of love, which is in every story she writes).

Barbara loves to cook, especially soups, and is an avid reader. There are only two items on her bucket list: to make asparagus pudding and succeed at knitting socks. She’ll manage the first but doubts she’ll ever accomplish the second. This is not a bid for immortality but merely the dismal truth. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia with an ever-shifting population of relatives, friends, and feline strays.

Find Barbara Online ~ 

Website: http://www.BarbaraMonajem.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/barbara.monajem
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BarbaraMonajem
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1chhzpf
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