Tasha Alexander

Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander
(Book five in the Lady Emily Ashton Mystery series)
Three Murders and a Little Girl Ghost

Tasha Alexander’s fifth novel in her Lady Emily Ashton mystery novels was for me the best in the series yet. It has been fun to watch the author’s writing and story complexity evolve and improve to becoming one of the best in the genre of Victorian Era murder mysteries.

Dangerous to Know picks up immediately where the previous book left off. Emily and her dashing show more husband Colin Hargreaves are recuperating from their tragic honeymoon in Istanbul, where Emily was shot and lost their unborn baby in the midst of investigating a murder. Colin thinking nothing but rest at his mother’s estate would be just the ticket for Emily to mend, soon is proved wrong, when while out riding Emily finds the dead body of a young woman brutally stabbed to death. This event definitely was not what she needed and spins her into feeling emotions of insecurity, doubts of her marriage, and rivalry between herself and her new mother-in-law who seems to have nothing but disdain for Emily and her apparent weaknesses.

Recognizing that the way out of her weakened physical state and depressed mind was to get back full swing into her work of solving crimes, she and Colin band together again to solve the mystery of the slain young girl which of course begins again another tale of adventure, mystery, romance and tragedies. The author dips her pen into the inkwell of combining madness in an insane asylum, jealousy between bitter siblings, a doctor turned mad scientist, and a gothic ghost story quite curious that has Emily seeing little girls with blue ribbons crying in the night.

I thought Dangerous to Know had much more substance than previous plots in the earlier books, and that this installment’s story was a lot more complex with multi-levels of intrigue that all tie together in the end. I continue to enjoy the romance between Emily and Colin, their chapters of interesting criminal detection, along with a host of regular background characters that enhance the pages of each book. Especially our beloved Sebastian Capet, the suave thief with panache. His personality grows with each book and seems to be a growing player that will have more of a part in the future which could become interesting when in the next book he will have a larger part in the lives and exploits of Lady Emily and the Queen’s Spy Colin Hargreaves.

Two thumbs up once again for Tasha Alexander who continues on the path to success with her series that serves up a fabulous concoction of murder and mayhem with romance, adventure and heartwarming characters you come to love! show less

This genuinely creeped me the heck out, and not just because of the Great Expectations references throughout -- one of my all time most hated reads. This book, however, kept the suspense at a fever pitch and really tapped into some of my worst nightmare fears -- while telling a compelling next installment in Lady Emily's adventures. Loved that one of the main characters seemed to be neurodivergent. Liked all the twists and turns even as I confront my own claustrophobia. Enjoyed catching up show more with our intrepid crew of investigators. Great audio narrator as well. show less

This is my first Tasha Alexander mystery but it definitely will not be my last. For anyone who enjoys Victorian mysteries with a wonderfully headstrong female protagonist (a la Anne Perry or Laurie R. King), you might want to take a look at the Lady Emily series. The characters are wonderful and their interactions made me smile more than once.

Delightfully written, this story follows is told both from Lady Emily's point of view and, in alternating subchapters, narrative form. While there is show more the requisite murder to solve, the real mystery is much more complicated and urgent. The resolution is both shocking and immensely sad.

This is definitely not your typical 'whodunit.' And that is a lovely thing.

Recommended! show less

When Lady Emily Ashton gets the news that her husband Philip has died in Africa, she feels little more than relief. After all, she hardly knew the man. She agreed to marry him in order to escape her domineering mother, and he left on safari only a few months after they were wed. Now, as a wealthy widow, she looks for ways to fill her days, and is drawn to her husband's collection of antiquities. As she learns more about ancient Greece, she uncovers an uncomfortable fact: some of the items in show more her husband's collection belong in the British Museum . . . and some of the items in the British Museum are clever forgeries. Was her husband involved in committing crimes?

This all sounds like it should appeal to me: mystery, Victorian setting, a strong-willed heroine, a focus on Ancient Greece . . . but I found it lacking focus and drive. It felt repetitive and meandering, and it absolutely dragged to a close. I couldn't bring myself to care much about the mystery (things were stolen from the British Museum, an institution absolutely packed with stolen artifacts? Oh noes!) or the main love interest, whom Emily decides must be the bad guy because reasons, despite the fact that the other obvious bad guy is so obviously bad.

Caveat: I read this while suffering from a nasty cold, so I may not have been in the best mood for it. You might find it absolutely charming. show less