Book Review: A Brazen Curiosity (Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries #1)

A Brazen Curiosity
Lynn Messina
4/5

I live for a good historical murder mystery with a strong female detective, that's actually basically a genre for me at this point. This one is going to be especially great for me because I just got Kindle Unlimited again and I'm ready to binge the whole series. Beatrice is a twenty-six-year-old orphan, in the early 1800s in England, being a 26 year old woman and an unmarried orphan is about equivalent to being an orphan child. She doesn't have a lot of rights or the ability to make significant money on her own, and with her social awkwardness, she is sure that she is destined to live off the kindness of her relations for the rest of her life. She has been taught, since she was orphaned at six years old, that she must remain as unseen and unheard as possible, as docile and obedient as a charity case should, and she has done that for the past two decades. But when she comes across a duke standing over the body of a murdered dinner guest, she decides it's time to investigate.

I liked Beatrice because she was aware of her shortcomings as well as the world's shortcomings. It gives me anxiety when characters in historical fictions push boundaries that they would be unable to push in that actual period of time. Beatrice has limitations, but she is still a fierce character with a wit that wouldn't have gotten her burned for being a witch. I really appreciated her journey as a character, I was rooting for her the whole time.

The romance was barely there, I'm not even going to label this a romance though I know it's a slowburn that will probably end up with a romance. Like I said, strong female detectives are basically a genre for me at this point and I've seen it all before I just keep coming back for more. The duke seems like he could be a good character, but I haven't seen enough of him or his detective skills to be on his side or not so we'll see.

I'm excited for where this is going to go and it's definitely a great book that deserves more attention. I'll probably be on here with my review for the second tomorrow because these are relatively short, but still packed with great plot and action.