Category: Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN-13: 9780143113393
Series: Ursula Marlow, #2
Pub. Date: September 2008
Date Read: October 2008
"Whereas Lady Winterton had accepted her role in society, Ursula continued to rail against its expectations. She had taken over her father's business, continued to maintain her suffragette and socialist views, and, worse still, had refused to countenance marriage."
The spirited Ursula Marlow is struggling to keep her father's textile company, his legacy to her, intact but as woman in Edwardian society it seems that everyone expects her to take a husband instead and let others handle the business dealings.
While on a business trip to Egypt she finally feels free from the burdens of home. She is still upset over the end of her relationship with Lord Wrotham because he can't accept that she not agree to be his wife, but for now her goal is to secure the cotten supplies her factory needs.
In Egypt she spends time with Katya Vilensky, the wife of a Russian financier and enjoys her friendship but their acquaintenance is cut short when Katya is murdered. To complicate matters, Ursula receives an urgent notice to return to England when a fire engulfs one of her factories and unfortunately a young woman died inside.
Ursula returns to England facing a growing dread that her business might be falling apart and when the investigation into the fire and the factory worker connect the two women Ursula is not one to sit aside. She does her best to try and find the connections even if it means putting her place in society in jeopardy.
Old friends, lovers and enemies make appearances in this second novel, which I thought had a more solid mystery than the first book in the series. I also thought the struggles Ursula has with her relationship with Lord Wrotham are very honest and give more depth to the characters.
A wonderful follow up to the first book, and I promise you the ending will have you anxiously awaiting book three.