A Gilded Shroud
Elizabeth Bailey
2/5
Hired as a temporary companion to the dowager marchioness, Ottilia is quickly subject to a brutal murder. Being the sister of a doctor and extremely meddling, she takes it upon herself to assist the family in solving the crime and absolving the patriarch of guilt.
I wanted to like this book a lot, it's exactly my kind of book. I just couldn't get behind it. The mystery was kind of dull, no big surprises or interesting clues. The characters spent the entirety of the book praising Ottilia. No one really got their own story line because they were too obsessed with her. Because of that they all felt weak, especially the romance. Francis and Ottilia talked like twice, no dramatic exposition in their back stories, they literally fell in love only on the basis of solving a murder together.
I didn't like the historical roles either because there was the opportunity for a conflict and it was wasted. Francis is the second son of a marquis, he's way up there in terms of social standing. Ottilia is the sister of a doctor? I don't think he was a knighted doctor, maybe he was a gentleman who knows like I said absolutely no backstory. It was great if all I wanted to hear about was how good at solving mysteries, talking to people, and just being amazing Ottilia was. Otherwise, it was kind of boring.
I didn't hate it all together. To an extent, I love it when the protagonist is special and great at what they do. But they also have to be fallible or else it just loses value for me. I might continue in the series just to see if things get more interesting, but I hope that all the characters get over Ottilia.
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