You all know how much I love spooky and gothic fiction, almost as much as my girl Catherine does.
That’s why I started Catherine Morland’s Reading List, a list of gothic fiction I recommend for my fellow spooky lovers.
Dangerous to Know (Lady Emily Ashton Mysteries #5) by Tasha Alexander
The Lady Emily Ashton Mysteries are a historical fiction mystery series that follows the adventures of the heroine Lady Emily Ashton, later Hargreaves. I was first introduced to the mysteries with book 9, and then started over with book one; And Only to Deceive. In book one, Lady Emily has become a widow not long after her marriage. She is not too sad about the death of her husband as she wasn’t in love with her husband, marrying him to get out of her parent’s home and their control. However, everything changed when her husband’s best friend came to visit after a year and a half. Mr. Colin Hargreaves brings information Emily did not know about her husband, along with questions regarding the true nature of her husband’s death. Was it really a fever? Or was it murder? Or has Phillip faked his death in order to be safe from a betrayal? As Lady Emily tries to hunt down the truth she also finds herself embroiled in a Greek and Roman art forgery ring. Who can she trust and who is plotting against her?
I enjoyed book one and I encourage Jane Austen fans to read it as I think they will enjoy the parts that are reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, and other Austen works.
Book two, A Poisoned Season, follows Lady Emily as she tries to determine whether or not to accept a proposal by Colin Hargreaves, attempts to hunt down a thief obsessed with Marie Antoinette and Lady Emily, tries to determine if the lost French heir is really who he says he is, strives to clear her name from viscous rumors, and also discover a murderer. The second book was a good mystery, but not anything I could see reviewing on the blog.
Book three, A Fatal Waltz, took our newly engaged couple to Vienna as Emily tries to prove the innocence of her best friend’s husband. This one was boring as we were missing her interactions with a lot of side characters, the mystery was extremely easy to solve, the author had all this spy and intrigue that has nothing to do with the mystery of the murder, etc.
Book four, Tears of Pearl, the newly married couple travel to Turkey and have their honeymoon interrupted by the murder of the sultan’s concubine who turns out to be an English woman who was kidnapped at the age of three. Emily is on the case again as she is the only one who can infiltrate the harem and question the women. She finds herself in the middle of one man’s thirst for what he believe is justice and may lose more than she is willing to on this adventure.
That brings us to book five, Dangerous to Know. The fifth book in the series is full of Gothic intrigue and finds itself a perfect addition to the blog.
Lady Emily and her husband Colin suffered from a miscarriage when Emily was attacked by a crazed man. After she recuperated enough to travel, they decide to head back to Europe and rest on Colin’s mother’s estate in Normandy.
However, this turns out to be a not relaxing place at all. First Emily’s mother-in-law dislikes her and does not hide it from her, cutting her out and treating her with disdain. To try and keep herself from lashing out or going crazy she deals with her grief and anger by going horseback riding across the estate. One day as she is trying to lose herself in the countryside she comes across a dead body. And not just any dead body, a woman who looks similar to her and one who’s body was mutilated, cut up like how the notorious Jack the Ripper worked over his victims.
Colin and Lady Emily are both worried over the incident. Could Jack the Ripper have moved to France, planning on continuing his killing spree on the continent? Did someone kill this woman because of who she is? Or was she murdered because she looks like Lady Emily? Is Lady Emily safe? Will this discovery set back Lady Emily’s healing?
Lady Emily wants to investigate, but her worried husband warns her off and tries to get her to refocus her attention on a thief that has recently come into the area. Believing it to be the same thief, Sebastían Capet, from Book two, Emily sets off to try and trap him.
Mrs. Hargreaves, the elder, is very close to her neighbors an Englishman George and his French wife Madeline. The two have a crumbling medieval chateau with a dreary spooky tower that they are constantly renovating. Supposedly the area also has a ghost story about a little girl who had a terrible mother that lead to her death. Legend says the ghost girl roams the area crying, leaving behind a blue ribbon, and searching for a new mother. Creepy right? Like a reverse La Llorona or the creepy girl from The Ring.
Emily doesn’t really think much of the story, that is until she hears crying in the night and begins to find blue ribbons left behind everywhere.
George and Madeline are very kind people and Emily enjoys spending time with them. Things are looking up for Emily, until they take a downward spiral as Madeline and her mother both suffer from dementia. Madeline has a light form of it, but Emily finds it quite unsettling as her conversions can abruptly change. Madeline understands how Emily feels as she has had several miscarriages; causing Emily to wonder if she is looking into her own future.
Madeline shares about how she is okay with her little life but suffers immense grief over the loss of her children. No children are allowed on the chateau grounds, espechially little girls. She also shares with Emily that she has has both heard and has seen a girl in the dovecote, which shocks Lady Emily. Lady Emily has also seen a girl and thought that it was a child of a servant, but to hear there are no children and knowing the madness stricken Madeline has seen it; is Lady Emily loosing her mind?
They meet the family of the murdered woman, Edith, in their investigations and find it to be a perfect setup for a gothic novel. Parents who were cruel and unkind to their children, having sent Edith away to an asylum and never even visiting her. Edith’s twin brother is crazily obsessed with her, having resented Edith when she took a lover and become pregnant (wanting the baby to be aborted). To further add to the creepiness of the family Lady Emily discovers a secret passage between Edith and her brother’s room that he created, unknown to anyone in the house.
The house staff suspect the twins’ relationship as being “too close” along with her brother being the reason she was driven crazy.
Does this family house a killer?
Throughout the story we are able to see into Mrs. Hargreaves’, the elder, journal entries and head how much she dislikes Emily, resents their marriage, and how she sees it as a loss of her son. Could she be behind some of these occurrences? Maybe she is hoping to get rid of Lady Emily and having her son back?
Then Edith’s asylum doctor is murdered and as Emily continues investigating, it turns out that one of these characters is hiding their true face, they have created a Frankenstein-like plan, with Lady Emily to be the recipient of their next experiment.
Will Lady Emily find her way out of this Gothic horror? Or will this be her last investigation?
I figured out the mystery early on, but still enjoyed the book and loved all the spooky elements. It is a great read that will definitely satisfy your appetite for gothic fiction.
For more from Catherine Morland’s Reading List, go to iDRAKULA
For more Lady Emily Mysteries, go to And Only to Deceive
For more Gothic tales, go to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
For more mysteries, go to Sense and Second-Degree Murder
For more on historical fiction, go to Am I the Only One Who Didn’t Enjoy the Book the Jane Austen Society?: Book and Audiobook Read by Richard Armitage Review
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