The Bishop's Lady

Emilie D'Armand #1

by Ashley Gardner, Jennifer Ashley

Paris, 1679

Émilie d’Armand, lady-in-waiting to the Queen of France in the time of Louis XIV, leaves court for a brief visit to a friend in Paris. She finds a house filled with secrets and old scandal, with a family living with an unsolved murder of one of their own. Emilie sets out to discover the truth, putting her own life in peril in the process.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Historical Mystery

29 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 9, 2025

About the author

Ashley Gardner is the pseudonym for NY Times bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Ashley and nationally bestselling and award-winning author Allyson James. Her award-winning Captain Lacey Regency mysteries have garnered top reviews and an enthusiastic following. These books are now available as digital editions. More about the series can be found at http://www.gardnermysteries.com

Reviews

[SheLove2Read]

Very short but a good read. Reminiscent of her other two historical mystery series. I enjoyed it.

[Coleen C. Dillon]

I did not realize this was a short story. It’s fun, but I kept thinking “is this part of a series? Was I supposed to have prior knowledge about the characters?” It moved fast and left out a lot. I would love to see a full on novel.

[Carole]

This is a short story. It was okay, but it felt like it was a 0.5 or 1.5 entry in a series, one of those background bits the author knows about but doesn’t publish for the audience until the series is well underway. We don’t really know why Emile decides there has been a murder or decides to investigate it, and the investigation is not very exciting. If you are not trying to read everything the author has ever written, I would recommend waiting to see if this will be part of a series before you read it.

[Lori]

3 stars

This book seems to be the beginning of a new series by this Author. I don't know how she keeps up with all her series! Phew!

I can see where this might be going, and the characters are interesting. BUT... it didn't quite draw me in or make me care until almost the very end. I'll reserve judgement until there's a next book - if there is one - in this series.

[Shirley]

Excellent!

So enjoyed this.!!! Well written as always. Can't wait for the next one. She is a true writer with new and interesting themes. Not endless sex scenes.