FELICITY CARROL AND THE PERILOUS PURSUIT

Felicity Carrol, the bane of her father’s existence, scandalizes him still further by investigating a murder.

Even though Felicity's wealthy father doesn’t love her, he does want her to make a good marriage and present him with some grandchildren. But his daughter, a Victorian bluestocking for whom education is everything, has yet to meet a man she can love. Learning of the death of William Kent, her most admired professor, changes the course of her life. Kent, a relative of Queen Victoria, has been found dead at a King Arthur exhibit at the British Museum. Although his valuable copy of The Legend of King Arthur was stolen, nothing else seems to be missing. At the funeral, Felicity meets Philip Chaucer, an intelligent and charming nobleman interested in King Arthur and perhaps Felicity, too. Traveling to London to learn more, she discovers that the weapon was a crossbow that was returned to its proper spot along with the bolt that killed Kent. Inspector Jackson Griggs Davies, the police officer assigned to the case, is a handsome, clever East Ender who doesn’t know what to make of Felicity and is reluctant to entertain her theories about the crime. He’s more willing to listen when Richard Banbury, a viscount, is found murdered and a priceless tapestry depicting King Arthur disappears. Felicity’s success in identifying the murder weapon earns some grudging respect from Davies, but he continues to ignore her theories even after two more deaths. Going it alone proves dangerous for Felicity, but she’s brave, fiercely intelligent, and determined to find the man who killed her friend.

Behind the welcome Victorian detail lies a so-so debut mystery. But readers who hunger for more portraits of independent women determined to make their ways in a stultifying society will take the heroine to heart.