An Infamous Betrayal
Lynn Messina
2018
2/5 stars
Beatrice Hyde-Clare, fresh from solving two mysteries, is approached by an acquaintance to help find a murderer. Her investigation leads her around Regency London and it's ballrooms, and, with help from the Duke of Kesgrave, to a successful conclusion.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first two of this series (A Brazen Curiosity and A Scandalous Deception), but found An Infamous Betrayal to be disappointing for a host of reasons.
To begin with, I was well over two hours into the audio book, and the past adventures were still being rehashed, which was annoying and, frankly, felt like a filler designed to bulk it up to it's final 202 pages.
Then, Bea's ability to get in and out of her home unseen became increasingly unbelievable, as was her photographic memory for convenient bizarre facts. Next there was the farce of her romantic encounter with the Duke, which was off-putting, to say the least.
Her growing friendships were nicely written, as were some of the characters, and there were several laugh-out-loud moments, but the plot as a whole was clunky and slow -- so different from the two previous, that it could have been a different author. I nearly quit listening several times and honestly don't feel that I would have missed much had I done so. I will continue the series, as I already own the next book, and hopefully the sparkle and charm will have returned.
