4.5 rounded up to 5 stars
I think this is my favorite plot in Ms. Joy's Meryton Mystery Book series so far. The way this builds the tension leading up to the climax is almost unbearable, but the payoff is excellent!
Mr. Jonathan Tanner finally agrees, although very reluctantly, to visit the Darcys at Darcy House, their London home. He hates everything about London and high society, and he feels even more uncomfortable in social gatherings than Mr. Darcy. Meanwhile, he's spent the past year trying to forget about Arabella Annesley, who is surely too fine a lady to be interested in a bastard son running a country tavern.
Arabella is just as smitten by Tanner and has been frustrated by his absence over the past year. She has been estranged from her family ever since she eloped with the now-deceased Mr. Annesley. Her marriage didn't turn out as she expected, and she knows how fortunate she is to be treated like a family member by the Darcys.
Not long after Tanner arrives, an unexpected visitor shows up and starts to deliver a warning, but someone outside shoots him through the window of the front parlor. He is dead before he can explain further. Mrs. Annesley is able to identify the victim, and it appears the threat centers around her.
It doesn't take long for the murderer to be identified. The real problem here is that the villain is a man who wields tremendous power and influence, and he remains a real threat to Arabella and anyone who supports her. Taking him down proves a challenge unlike anything Darcy has ever faced. Despite every attempt to thwart him, Arabella, Tanner and the Darcys find themselves invariably outmaneuvered by the bully. Near the end of the book, it seems as though they are cornered with no way out. When it seems likely they won't prevail, Arabella is furious to discover that Darcy and Tanner have made arrangements for her-- without her input-- to sail to Charleston beyond the villain's reach.
This has just the right mix of romance, mystery, angst, humor and character development. Tanner tries to be a curmudgeon, but he's really a softie, and Georgiana and Arabella both have him wrapped around their dainty little fingers. Arabella looks and acts like a fragile lady, but she's got a steel spine that rivals Elizabeth's. Mrs. Darcy is feeling self-imposed pressure to bear a child, which is a subtle undercurrent to the rest of the story. The entire Darcy family does their best to promote the match between Tanner and Georgiana's beloved companion.
The dire situation they're all in creates a comrades-at-arms kind of atmosphere, with Tanner and the residents of Darcy House against the entire ton. This shared trial finally breaks through Tanner's resolve to keep his emotional distance from the Darcys, and he allows them to draw him into their family as they have done with Arabella. The tension-filled climactic scene is just wonderful.
Generally, the writing is excellent. I do find two odd idiosyncrasies, though. Mrs. Hardcastle, Arabella's mother, is repeatedly referred to as "Mother," as in "Tanner looked into Mother's eyes..." Wouldn't that imply that the eyes Tanner is looking belong to the mother of the narrator/author? The capitalized Mother is a bit distracting. Calling Mrs. Darcy "Mrs. Elizabeth" throughout the story is distracting, too. Every other married lady is always mentioned with their surname, such as "Mrs. Annesley" and "Mrs. Hardcastle." Why the change in title for just Mrs. Darcy? (I note there is also a "Mrs. Molly," but she isn't a major character in this story.)
Other than those minor little specks, this is a marvelous yarn, and Ms. Joy spins it well. Can't wait for another Meryton Mystery!