A Fiancée's Guide to First Wives and Murder is the fourth installment in Dianne Freeman's extremely entertaining Victorian mystery series, following A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder. This book takes place in 1899, as the heroine, Frances Wynn, Countess of Harleigh, is eagerly awaiting her wedding to her beloved George Hazelton. The American-born heiress Frances has found love with her neighbor and partner in crime-solving, George, after a disastrous first marriage to a spendthrift, philandering aristocrat who ended up being murdered in his mistress' bed.
Now Frances' mother and eight-year-old daughter, Rose, are off to Paris to shop for clothes for Frances' engagement party, even though her mother has not yet reconciled herself to the idea of George, a third son of an earl with no chance to inherit, as a son-in-law. Frances' Aunt Hetty is staying with her in her London house until the wedding. After the wedding, Frances will move into George's house next door, and Aunt Hetty will live in Frances' house. Frances had planned to go to Paris as well, but she learns that she and George must stay behind in London to attend a reception for a visiting Russian grand duke and his wife.
Shortly after Frances' mother and daughter leave for Paris, Alicia Stoke-Whitney, the mistress of her late unlamented husband, in whose bed he died, approaches Frances and asks her to sponsor her daughter's entry into London society. Alicia's politician husband is sending her off to the country because she has been indiscreet about her latest affair. Frances and Alicia are not exactly friends, but they get along as well as they can considering their past history, so Frances reluctantly agrees to her request.
Then comes a shock: a young Russian woman, Irena, shows up on Frances' doorstep and claims to be George's wife. Frances doesn't believe her, especially when Irena tells her all kinds of outrageous-sounding stories: that she is the illegitimate daughter of a member of the Russian royal family, that she has been abducted several times, and that someone is following her and sending her threatening letters. When George comes to her house, he admits that he has met Irena, but firmly denies being married to her. He does, however, confirm that Irena is the daughter of a Russian grand duke, not the one who is visiting London. Her mother, an Englishwoman, died giving birth to her, even though Irena insists that her mother's husband murdered her.
Inspector Delaney, who had worked with Frances and George on previous cases, asks George to investigate Irena's claims about the threatening letters and the man following her. For Irena's protection, in case the story is true, George asks Frances to take her into her house, and she agrees, even though she doesn't want to be anywhere near the woman who keeps insisting she is George's wife, even though George vehemently denies it.
As if things weren't bad enough, they take a turn for the worse when Irena is found murdered in Frances' garden, and Frances and George find themselves the prime suspects in her death. Even though Inspector Delaney has worked with them before and basically trusts them, he can't rule them out, even when other suspects emerge. Bradmore, a young aristocrat Frances met in the previous book, comes along and says it is he, not George, who was Irena's husband. Now he wants to remarry, and he has come to ask Irena for a divorce. Had she refused, and Bradmore murdered her? Frances has never trusted Bradmore, and he appears an even more likely suspect when he flees the country after he finds out the police want to question him.
Also, Irena had been a part-owner of a theater, and insisted on playing the lead role as part of the agreement, even though she was a terrible actress. As a result, the theater has been losing money. Her partner in the theater, who had taken out a life insurance policy on her, and the actress who steps into the leading role after Irena's death, and who is a much better actress and knew she should have played the lead all along, are also suspects in her murder.
Frances and George want to keep Irena's story, and especially her claims to be married to George, a secret, but gossip leaks out because of nosy neighbors, and soon the whole story reaches the newspapers. Frances is shunned by society because people think she got engaged to a married man who then murdered his first wife. People, even those she thought were her friends, refuse to attend her engagement party. Alicia wants to withdraw her request for Frances to sponsor her daughter's social debut, even though, with her many affairs, she is hardly one to speak, as Frances reminds her. But Frances and George have allies in high places, including the Prince of Wales, who is grateful to George for the investigations he has carried out for the Crown. They attend the reception for the Russian grand duke even though they had been advised against it, and Frances closely observes who shuns them and who doesn't.
Until they can find the killer, though, Frances and George will remain social outcasts to some, and the longer it takes, the more their reputation will suffer. Will they catch the killer and be able to prove, once and for all, that George wasn't married to the victim? The story will take many unexpected turns along the way. I will not say who the killer was, but I will say I didn't guess until the end.
I highly recommend this book, and the whole series. Freeman has a lighthearted style that draws the reader in and brings her characters to life. She has a great sense of humor, and I love the witty dialogue between Frances and George. I had worried a bit that the series would go downhill now that the two protagonists are getting married. This has happened to me with other series, including Anne Perry's Monk books, but I'm happy to say that is not the case here. The playful banter between the two is still very much a part of the series.
Since a new phase of the protagonists' lives begins with this book, it is a good entry point into the series, but I think it is best to start with the first book, A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder, to learn more about the characters' background. The secondary characters are also a strong part of the series. Some of the characters I've enjoyed the most, including Frances' overbearing mother, her cousin Charles, and his clumsy but endearing wife Lottie, are absent from this book, except for the entertaining telegrams Frances' mother sends from Paris, but I'm sure they will be back. I was glad to see Frances' Aunt Hetty finding love at last, and I hope this story will continue. I am looking forward to more of the series, and I can't wait to see how married life turns out for Frances and George.
A Fiancée's Guide to First Wives and Murder is available electronically via OverDrive,