And Only to Deceive

This is the first mystery book in a series written by Tasha Alexander.  It takes place in Victorian England in the 1880’s. The synopsis goes like this: For Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to escape her overbearing mother, who was set on a grand society match. So when Emily’s dashing husband died on safari soon after their wedding, she felt little grief. After all, she barely knew him. Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that Philip was a far different man from the one she had married so cavalierly. His journals reveal him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with his wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and she immerses herself in all things ancient and begins to study Greek.

Emily’s intellectual pursuits and her desire to learn more about Philip take her to the quiet corridors of the British Museum, one of her husband’s favorite places. There, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries. And to complicate matters, she’s juggling two very prominent and wealthy suitors, one of whose intentions may go beyond the marrying kind. As she sets out to solve the crime, her search leads to more surprises about Philip and causes her to question the role in Victorian society to which she, as a woman, is relegated.

Plot

So the plot is simple, Emily marries to get away from her mother and she chooses a handsome fellow named Phillip. He dies mysteriously after he went on a safari trip. She is flooded with emotions she is free but at the same time theres some guilt there because she wasn’t in love with him and married him to get away from her mother. It does get a little strange when she reads her husband’s journals and finds out he’s much more intelligent than she thought she was and had a passion for antiquities from the ancient Greek and Roman era. Phillip was also deeply in love with Emily calling her his Helen and she starts to fall in love with her dead husband. There are also two other men who are interested in her. Both men knew her husband one has good intetions the other is only after her money.

Writing

The writing was decent. You had a feel for the time period it took place in in Victorian England. It was a little slow because it seemed we didn’t get to the mystery part until the middle close to the end. It was very heavy on the Greek and Roman mythology considering it was about the antiquities and who must have been stealing them and whether her husband was killed because he knew too much.

Is it worth the Read?

I will say yes it is worth reading. If you’re a fan of mysteries, especially ones that take place in a different time it’s worth checking out. I just have to say if you don’t have patience for slow moving books you might have a rough time getting it finished, or maybe you’ll persevere to the end.  I’m thinking about checking out a few more from the library in the future to see if it’s a series I’m really invested in.