Written by Stephanie Laurens
Read by Jim McCabe
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 32 Kbps
Unabridged

This was part of one big file available on audible. I split the books up.

Length 3h:55m

Penelope Adair, wife and partner of sleuth Barnaby Adair, is so hugely pregnant she can barely waddle, much less assist, when Barnaby is summoned by Inspector Stokes of Scotland Yard to help investigate the violent murder of a gentleman at a house party. Penelope insists that she and Griselda, Stokes's wife, receive reports to stay duly informed of their husbands' discoveries.

But what Barnaby and Stokes uncover leads only to more questions. The victim had been thrown out of the house party days before, so why had he returned? And how did he come to have the famous Finsbury diamonds in his pocket?

The threat of scandal looms for all those attending the house party - and the stakes are highest for the gallant gentleman who has spent the last decade in Africa striving to resurrect his family fortune so he can seek Lord Finsbury's daughter's hand. Working parallel to Barnaby and Stokes, can our would-be lovers find a clear path to expose the murderer, disperse the stain of scandal, and claim the love and shared life they now crave?

A pre-Victorian mystery with strong elements of romance. A short novel of 39,000 words.