"March-Lake Regency mystery"

In Regency England, private inquiry agents Tobias March and Lavinia Lake look forward to the weekend party because the lovers rarely spend any time alone. However, a ghost from Tobias' past, Aspasia Gray also attends the party. She wants to hire him because someone left an old memento-mori ring on her doorstep. She takes this as a threat because three years ago, her lover killed himself after she and Tobias discovered he was the Memento-Mori hit man.

While Tobias talks to Aspasia, Lavinia notices a maid wearing blonde wig leading an elderly gentleman to the roof for a tryst. When she goes to Tobias's room and sees him in a woman's arms, she returns to her room. He follows to explain, but the elderly gentleman falls from the roof, flying past Lavinia's window. A memento-mori ring is found in the victim's room. Tobias and Lavinia are determined to find the new Memento-Mori man. They come up with some promising leads but Lavinia doesn't realize someone wishes her harm.

Amanda Quick has written another exciting historical mystery with enough romance in LATE FOR THE WEDDING to keep fans of the two genres very happy. The relationship between the two protagonists is now a full-blown love affair but neither is talking about taking their relationship to the next level even though Lavinia's niece and Tobias's brother-in-law think that they should. Both worry about the case rather than commitments as they deal with powerful members of the Ton and that requires extreme caution when they stomp on a foot or two.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted April 24, 2003

The third book in Amanda Quick's Regency romantic-suspense series featuring Lavinia Lake and Tobias March...

Summary

An invitation to a country house party at Beaumont Castle provides a perfect solution to Tobias and Lavinia's most exasperating challenge: how to escape the chaos of London for a remote, relaxing--and above all romantic--retreat from prying eyes and wagging tongues. But the lovers' plans are foiled when their first cozy interlude of the weekend is disrupted by the appearance of a stunning woman from Tobias's past. Aspasia Gray's beauty is as haunting as her connection to Tobias. Her long-deceased fiancé was a friend of his--in addition to being an eccentric assassin. The mysterious nature of the bond between Tobias and Aspasia makes Lavinia more than a little uncomfortable. Especially as her first encounter with Aspasia occurs when she finds her in Tobias's bedchamber...

It seems Aspasia is seeking protection--and solace--after receiving an ominous message that eerily recalls the past. Suddenly the obstacles standing betweenTobias and Lavinia appear greater than just a little London gossip--and far more deadly.When events at the castle suggest someone is imitating the dead killer's methods, the team of Lake and March fervently pursue the investigation--and each other-- as their leads take them from Society's most elegant haunts- -and most discreet hideaways--to London's shadiest backstreets. As their relationship heats up, so does the intrigue. Soon Lavinia will have to employ all her talents to flummox the scoundrel who so rudely interrupted her rendezvous. And then she and Tobias can get back to more pleasurable affairs.