Today I have a review of A Dangerous Engagement by Ashley Weaver, available from Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press tomorrow/ September 3, 2019.
My Thoughts:
While A Dangerous Engagement is the 6th installment in the Amory Ames’ mysteries, it was my first in the series, and it stood alone well. As with all series I jump into and enjoy, I realize I’d love to know more about the main character and have the best of intentions to go back and read the earlier books.
This book is set in New York, and Amory travels by ship to the city to attend her friend, Tabitha’s, wedding. Along for the ride is Amory’s husband, Milo, who is none-too-thrilled about Prohibition and how dull parties will be as a result.
When a member of the wedding party is found murdered, the time spent in NYC is set to be anything but dull.
The dead groomsman has ties to a gangster, Leon De Lora, and Amory and Milo are drawn into the fray of investigating.
A Dangerous Engagement has the fun historical backdrop of glitzy nightclubs and bootlegging during Prohibition. I adored Amory and Milo and their banter, and the mystery kept me guessing. There’s also some clever humor sprinkled in that keeps it from being too serious.
Overall, A Dangerous Engagement is an engaging and suspenseful historical mystery, and I hope to read more of Amory and Milo’s escapades soon.
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
About the Book:
A Dangerous Engagement is the stylish, charming sixth novel in the Edgar-nominated Amory Ames mystery series by Ashley Weaver, set in 1930s New York.
As they travel by ship to New York for her childhood friend Tabitha’s wedding, Amory Ames gazes out at the city’s iconic skyline, excited by the prospect of being a bridesmaid. Her husband Milo, however, is convinced their trip will be deadly dull, since Prohibition is in full swing. But when a member of the wedding party is found murdered on the front steps of the bride’s home, the happy plans take a darker twist.
Amory discovers that the dead groomsman has links to the notorious–and notoriously handsome–gangster Leon De Lora, and soon she and Milo find themselves drawn into another mystery. While the police seem to think that New York’s criminal underworld is at play, Amory feels they can’t ignore the wedding party either. Tabitha’s fianc� Tom Smith appears to be a good man, but he has secrets of his own, and the others in the group seem strangely unaffected by the death of their friend . . .
In an unfamiliar city, not knowing who they can trust, Milo and Amory are drawn into the glamorous, dangerous world of nightclubs and bootleggers. But as they draw closer to unraveling the web of lies and half-truths the murdered man has left in his wake, the killer is weaving a web of his own.
Have you read A Dangerous Engagement, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR
Fab review! If you enjoyed this one you’ll love the earlier ones. I’ve listened to the first three and they’re brilliant as audiobooks.
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Thanks, Nicki! I love hearing that and audio may be the way to go to help me catch up!
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Ooh, my mind didn’t immediately go to historical mystery when I looked at the cover. Reason why you shouldn’t judge a book! 🙂 Excellent review as always!
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Thanks, Chrissi! Does it look more like a cozy because of the graphics?
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Yes! Totally.
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Cute review.. I haven’t heard of this author
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Thanks, Shalini!
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I’ve got the first and third books in the series on my bookshelf to get to
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That’s great to hear, Sheila! I hope you love these too!
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Lovely review my friend! I’ve not heard of this author but I’m off to Goodreads to check her out! Have a great day Jen! Is your dad going to be okay with Dorian??☕🌞📚💜
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Thanks, Sus! I hope you get a chance to check out this series! It’s really good! I am worried about Dad. We are taking it a day at a time. ♥️
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You constantly amaze me when you fearlessly jump into the middle of a series, dear friend😏 I’m so glad you enjoyed the story. Is this sort of a cozy mystery?
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Thanks, Jonetta! I know! For some reason I thought this was a first installment! 😂 I found this more of a straight historical mystery rather than cozy. I think that cover is misleading.
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I need to add this to my list. I am looking for a new mystery series written by a woman. Thank you for the idea! I don’t know if I do it on purpose but I find that I read more women authors, than male. And I’m really glad about it. Maybe it’s because high school and college was 90% male writers. We didn’t even have Jane Austen on the curriculum.
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You’re welcome, Jane! I have another good historical mysteries series written by a woman to share soon too. I know exactly what you mean and I am finding the same thing.
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Ohh, thank you. I’m excited to read that post soon. Have you heard of Jane Thynne? She is an incredible writer of a mystery series set in pre-WWII Germany. The main character, Clara Vine, is English living in Berlin and she gets intercepted by British agents to spy for them. It’s really, really good. And has a little romance in it. So far there are 5 books in the series.
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I haven’t but I will check the series out! I appreciate the rec!
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That cover drew me right in- love the contrasts! This sounds like a good read, Jennifer, thanks 🙂
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My pleasure, Jacquie, and thank you! I love that cover too! The colors are so pretty!
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Gorgeous picture and wonderful review, Jennifer! I added this historical mystery to my TBR list. Thanks, Jennifer and have a happy week! ❤️📚🌺💐🗽⚓️🚢🥰😘
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Thanks, Virginia! I think you’d enjoy this series! Happy week ahead to you too! ♥️
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This one sounds fun! I love a good mystery and a bit of clever humour adds to my enjoyment! I think, I may need a need a bit of humour – I recently finished The Handmaid’s Tale (which means, I am starting to read about the Book Woman, you know the one in Troublesome Creek… 😉).
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Oh gosh, you do need some humor! There are a couple clever moments in Book Woman, though there some darkness too. This was a great mystery. Pretty fun!
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What a lovely review, Jennifer:)). I’m a sucker for historical whodunits and this one looks great.
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Thank you, Sarah! It was an intriguing mystery!
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This sounds like a lot of fun! I love historical mysteries when they’re done well, and the Prohibition era is such a great setting for all kinds of glamour and glitz, not to mention crime! I’ll keep an eye open for this series… 😀
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It was great fun, FF! I read this one close to another one set during the Gilded Age. I couldn’t decide which I liked more!
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Thanks for sharing a review that is clear, gets to the point, and engaging. The book sounds engaging too. The cover font reminds me of a Dorothy Sayers’ novel — I think
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Thanks, Cynthia! I can definitely see that about Sayers’ books!
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Super intrigued by the historical setting during prohibition time and I like how this is a mystery without being too heavy!
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