The Murderess of Mayfair

First of all - many thanks to Netgalley and IBPA for this advanced readers copy, it was my first ARC read and now I feel like a real reviewer! The Murderess of Mayfair was a little questionable, set in Regent England (think Bridgerton - netflix), it’s a murder mystery with some very steamy scenes and a couple of decent plot twists. A lot of the writing strayed into dangerously predictable and overly-cheesy waters, and the grammar was frustratingly all over the place, but I truly didn’t guess who dunnit - so there’s that!

The plot-line centres around Lady Elise Bristol, a girl who was forced into an arranged marriage in order to raise her family’s status into the British aristocracy. Her husband (of many years her senior), was a cruel, malicious Lord (think cartoon villain but 18+ version) who kept her locked up and tortured for the first couple of years of their marriage. Then, one night, she is awoken by a loud sound and finds him face down with a knife in his back. Of course, society assumes that she did it - and she is on a mission to prove her innocence. With the help of a broody detective and his feisty brother, Elise re-enters society in an effort to clear her name and find a safe match to prevent her from falling into poverty again. She is strictly against romantic arrangements, and seeks only a wealthy man who is happy to marry her, and maintain a very separate bedroom arrangement.

Contrary to some reviews, I actually think Shannon delicately scripted the ways in which trauma can present itself, especially sexual trauma. I think this is fairly impressive given the genre of this book and the amateur-ish aspects of the rest of the novel. She could have easily disregarded PTSD and extreme self-preservation in survivors of domestic abuse, but she didn’t. The erotic scenes build up in a bit of a will-they-won’t-they back and forth, and eventually unfold on the basis of trust - which again, was a major plus.

By way of constructive criticism however, there were definitely major moments of cringe in the erotic sections. My pet peeve of ‘small but ample breasts’ being a good example - I mean really, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?! It’s also pretty hard (pun intended) to write about a penis in any kind of way that’s not a bit funny - you know? Maybe thats just me… Anyway, cringy parts aside, there were too many occasions where the writing felt clunky, repetitive and in need of some real editing. Setting the tale in the regent era could have allowed for a lot of play with scenery and costume, which fell flat and felt like a missed opportunity. The brothels and ‘gaming hells’ were unrealistic and uninteresting, and there could have been much more development on class disparity and gender roles, which seemed would have added realism and depth.

Overall, not one I’d read again.

CW: rape, torture, abuse, kidnap, murder, patriarchy