Review: Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark, Donna Lea Simpson

When Lady Anne Addison’s friend Lydia writes her, desperately seeking help with a seemingly supernatural phenomenon and with matters of the heart, Anne sets off at once.  When she arrives in Yorkshire, no one is there to meet her and she must make her own way to the manor after the postman acts like he is terrified by her presence.  On the way to Darkefell Castle, she is nearly witness to a horrible crime and the mystery complicates before her very eyes.  Determined to find out the truth, she only has one man in her way, the Marquess of Darkefell, maddening, secretive, and infuriating but somehow so very attractive.  

I expected a romance out of this book, but what I got was a romantic mystery!  I didn’t mind.  I loved that Lady Anne was such a curious, intelligent woman.  She’s determined to get to the bottom of things and even though mysteries proliferate around her and everyone wants to keep their mouth shut, she just does not give up.  I even liked the Marquess of Darkefell, although to be honest I will probably love any character who knows that Edward of Woodstock was probably never called the Black Prince in his lifetime.  In all honesty, though, I liked that he wasn’t nearly so “bad” as he was made out to be by the other characters.  I found him quite endearing after we learned what he did and definitely did not do.

As for the plot, I definitely felt it came together towards the end.  I figured out who had probably caused the murders and I was pleased when I was correct at least in part; some bits are left unexplained, which is okay since I discovered that this is the first of a series.  I certainly never expected the resolution to the werewolf side story.  I also found the parts about slavery infuriating, and more so when their truth was confirmed in the author’s note.  Such barbarity makes me uncomfortable and I still can’t believe that humans could treat each other so abominably.  Certainly made a wonderfully complex character in Osei though and I hope we see more of him.

Overall, I’m looking forward to more from Lady Anne and the Marquess of Darkefell and glad to hear that the next book will be published later this year!  

Buy Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark on Amazon.