Last Duke Standing (The Lords of Eton, Book 3)

Lady Georgiana is engaged to the Duke of Fordham, though she’s not particularly keen on the prospect. She admires him but doesn’t love him—not passionately. But she knew she would have to make an advantageous marriage, so things could be worse. Unfortunately, worse happens. The Duke’s younger brother, Alex, now the new Duke of Fordham, arrives to give his brother’s fiancée the news of his death. When she insists on seeing the body, she recognizes signs that he’s been suffocated. And the chase is on. Several people, including the new duke, were at the duke’s country estate for a shooting party, and each has a motive for murder. As Georgiana and Alex try to solve the mystery, she sees the striking physical resemblance between Alex and his deceased brother. So why does he stir something in her that his brother never could? Worse yet, what if she falls for her fiancé’s killer? 

“The Last Duke Standing” is a wonderful mystery tale in the vein of Agatha Christie. Ms. Bolen does a masterful job creating suspects, then cleverly entwining their motives to keep her readers guessing ‘whodunit.’ The chemistry between the two main characters builds slowly and inevitability, despite Georgiana’s suspicions that Alex has the strongest motive for killing his brother. The plot whizzes along building suspense, within the structured, highly-mannerly world of Regency England, and brings the period to life without it becoming stale or overly affected. By the end readers will be rooting for Georgiana and Alex to break through the social strictures that hold them apart while unmasking the culprit. A lovingly crafted historical novel with a deeply satisfying mystery!

Marc Joesph