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Stella Hart #3
The Baronet Unleashed
Who DIDN’T want to murder Nathan Stanley?
Stella Hart has less than a month to finish her latest picture and sail home to England to marry her darling George. If she postpones the wedding again, her mother will disown her, and even the groom is getting restless. When her swashbuckling co-star smashes into a wall and breaks his nose, putting production on indefinite hold, she and George make plans to slip away and leave the movie unfinished.
But studio head Nathan Stanley has other ideas. He threatens Stella with scandal and ruin if she doesn’t stay in Hollywood. As a free agent and the future wife of a baronet, she can afford to let him do his worst. But when Stanley turns up stabbed to death with a dueling sword, somebody has to solve the murder.
Buckle up for flappers, floozies, gangsters, jazz, speakeasies, murder, and mayhem in 1920s Tinseltown in this third installment of the Stella Hart Mysteries.
Stella Hart has less than a month to finish her latest picture and sail home to England to marry her darling George. If she postpones the wedding again, her mother will disown her, and even the groom is getting restless. When her swashbuckling co-star smashes into a wall and breaks his nose, putting production on indefinite hold, she and George make plans to slip away and leave the movie unfinished.
But studio head Nathan Stanley has other ideas. He threatens Stella with scandal and ruin if she doesn’t stay in Hollywood. As a free agent and the future wife of a baronet, she can afford to let him do his worst. But when Stanley turns up stabbed to death with a dueling sword, somebody has to solve the murder.
Buckle up for flappers, floozies, gangsters, jazz, speakeasies, murder, and mayhem in 1920s Tinseltown in this third installment of the Stella Hart Mysteries.
206 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 29, 2021
3 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Lucy Blue
53 books33 followersI’ve been a writer since I was seven years old when I conceived my very first short fiction piece, a suspenseful tale of terror and triumph about a puppy stuck at the top of a very tall sliding board because he’s afraid to slide down. As I recall this plotline came to me as I was sitting at the top of a very tall sliding board with a long line of other second graders behind me yelling, “Are you gonna slide or what?” As an artist, I’ve always responded well to pressure.
Since the puppy (who made it, by the way, for anyone who’s worried), I’ve written and released ten and a half full-length novels and many, many short stories, published with two big publishers (Berkeley-Penguin and Pocket Books-Simon & Schuster), a couple of small indie publishers, and all by my itty bitty self. With my sister, Alexandra Christian, I write, edit, and publish for Little Red Hen Romance, a micro-press for the kind of romances we want to read.
I’m a graduate of the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Winthrop University, so if we went to school together, by all means drop me a note at lucybluecastle@gmail.com and say hi. I’m married to game designer and artist Justin Glanville.
Since the puppy (who made it, by the way, for anyone who’s worried), I’ve written and released ten and a half full-length novels and many, many short stories, published with two big publishers (Berkeley-Penguin and Pocket Books-Simon & Schuster), a couple of small indie publishers, and all by my itty bitty self. With my sister, Alexandra Christian, I write, edit, and publish for Little Red Hen Romance, a micro-press for the kind of romances we want to read.
I’m a graduate of the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Winthrop University, so if we went to school together, by all means drop me a note at lucybluecastle@gmail.com and say hi. I’m married to game designer and artist Justin Glanville.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 21, 2025
While not as much of a lark as books 1 and 2 of the series, The Baronet Unleashed is still a delightful romcom-style murder mystery. I think why it is slightly less fun this time around is Stella is working rather than traveling. Sure, Stella thinks that acting is the bee's knees, but day-job is day-jobbing; something always takes the glitter of the gold.
The tradeoff of the fun is a great deep dive into the American film industry in the twenties, which brings its own type of satisfaction. Ms. Blue has talked about her love of Hollywood History at cons and on her blog (no, I don't stalk this wonderful writer ... much) and it shines through in this book. The worldbuilding for the Stella Hart series is top notch from the characters to the transportation choices (ships and cars) and the clothing.
As to the plot, Stella stumbles across another body, her loving George (now fiancée), just a few steps behind. Between the rushed shoots of the movie and packing to go to England for the wedding, Stella pokes her nose into speakeasies, lives of the famous (hoping to be rich), and police business trying to solve the mystery.
As I said, a delightful cozy mystery. You can read the books in any order; they each work as a stand-alone, though the cast of characters build throughout.
The tradeoff of the fun is a great deep dive into the American film industry in the twenties, which brings its own type of satisfaction. Ms. Blue has talked about her love of Hollywood History at cons and on her blog (no, I don't stalk this wonderful writer ... much) and it shines through in this book. The worldbuilding for the Stella Hart series is top notch from the characters to the transportation choices (ships and cars) and the clothing.
As to the plot, Stella stumbles across another body, her loving George (now fiancée), just a few steps behind. Between the rushed shoots of the movie and packing to go to England for the wedding, Stella pokes her nose into speakeasies, lives of the famous (hoping to be rich), and police business trying to solve the mystery.
As I said, a delightful cozy mystery. You can read the books in any order; they each work as a stand-alone, though the cast of characters build throughout.
August 14, 2021
What I love about this series is the wit. The dialogue sparkles. The main characters have gorgeous chemistry and even solving the crimes is wholesome in that it's not about prurient interest, but trying to help.
As in the other two wonderful books in this series (Guinevere's Revenge: A Stella Hart Romantic Mystery and The Passion of Miss Cuthbert: A Stella Hart Romantic Mystery ), Stella Hart was in the wrong place at the wrong time (or the right place, depending on your POV) and was pulled into a mystery. This time we were in Hollywood, and I truly enjoying the movie business aspects of the story.
I hear there's a fourth in the series in the works, and I can't wait! It'll be like reading an old friend.
As in the other two wonderful books in this series (Guinevere's Revenge: A Stella Hart Romantic Mystery and The Passion of Miss Cuthbert: A Stella Hart Romantic Mystery ), Stella Hart was in the wrong place at the wrong time (or the right place, depending on your POV) and was pulled into a mystery. This time we were in Hollywood, and I truly enjoying the movie business aspects of the story.
I hear there's a fourth in the series in the works, and I can't wait! It'll be like reading an old friend.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews