Murder in Masquerade

Countess and undercover advice columnist Amelia Amesbury returns for Winters’s underwhelming sequel to Murder in Postscript. When Amelia, who writes a column as Lady Agony for a pulpy newspaper in Victorian London, receives an anonymous letter from a woman who’s father disapproves of her impending marriage, she clocks the author immediately. It’s Lady Marielle Bainbridge, sister of Simon Bainbridge, a hunky object of Amelia’s affection who’s recently told her that he fears Marielle will run away with the family’s former stable manager, George Davies. Simon and his father believe that George, a gambler, is after Marielle for her money, so Lady Agony advises her to drop their proposed elopement. Then, after receiving another letter asking how to say goodbye to a loved one, Amelia discovers George murdered in an alleyway while she’s out with Simon and Marielle one evening. Once again thrust into the middle of a whodunit, Amelia asks herself if her beloved Simon might be capable of violence? Or is an unknown killer zeroing in on the Bainbridge family? Unfortunately, the sleuthing is limp and undermotivated, and Winters provides little in the way of memorable historical detail. Readers drawn to the premise would be better served by Kathleen Bailey’s Olivia Penn series. Agent: Amanda Jain, BookEnds Literary. (Feb.)