Murder in Mayfair

 Murder in Mayfair (2017) by D. M. Quincy

First line: Had his mount not lost its shoe on the return journey to London, Atlas Catesby would not have been in a position to purchase another man's wife.

Atlas Catesby and his friend, Gabriel Young, the Earl of Charlton, are on their way back home when they are forced to stop at an inn to have his horse reshoed. While having a glass of ale, the men hear a commotion outside in the yard. Godfrey Warwick says that he has no use for his wife any longer and will sell her to the highest bidder. When it becomes apparent that a dirty old man wants her for unsavory reasons, Atlas puts down a bid of 30 pounds and finds himself the "owner" of Lilliana Warwick, a spirited young woman who seems to have married beneath her when she became the wife of the abusive owner of a haberdashery. 

But when Atlas offers her his protection, she insists she wants to return home with her husband. What she means is that she doesn't want to leave her children. But Warwick has washed his hands of her and tells her that she won't be allowed in his house ever again--and according to the law the children are his and his alone. She finally agrees to allow Atlas to convey her to his sister Thea Palmer's home for refuge until a long-term plan can be set-up. Thea is a most unconventional woman in the Regency period--she has a flair for mathematics and isn't phased at all by the scandalous events that have brought Mrs. Warwick her door.

But the scandal isn't over, for in a few weeks Godfrey Warwick is dead and Endicott, the Bow Street Runner, assigned to investigate the death seems certain that either Atlas or Warwick's widow (or both in collusion) is responsible. Atlas, who has a love of puzzles and who has solved minor mysteries in the past, is determined to solve the mystery of Warwick's death himself in order to clear both their names. Endicott is sure that Atlas killed the man because of his interest in Mrs. Warwick (why else is she staying Atlas's sister's house?) and the devil of it is that Atlas finds himself attracted to the lovely young widow. His investigation turns up others who had reason to want Warwick dead--from the man's "best friend" (whose job as magistrate Warwick was about to usurp) to a rival tailor with a secret that might be worth killing for to a mysterious gentleman who had a run-in with Warwick in his shop. And there may be others. Now all Atlas has to do is find the evidence that will lead to the culprit.

This is a very engaging first novel in what promises to be another good Regency-era mystery series. I immediately downloaded the second novel through my library's Hoopla account, so that tells you how eager I am to continue Atlas Catesby's adventures. Atlas is the youngest son of a newly-minted baron--who just passed the baronetcy on to Atlas's eldest brother, so he's a gentleman but not quite in the higher realms where his friend Charlton is at home and part of the interest is watching him walk the fine line between gentleman and nobility. It doesn't help that Atlas (much to his brother's dismay) disdains the way of the ton and the hierarchy. But it does make Atlas an interesting character. 

Atlas is also surrounded by interesting characters. Charlton manages to help the investigation despite his pose as a somewhat ignorant dandy and Thea is a delight (even though she does seem to be awfully enlightened for the times--that seems to be a trend in historical novels these days). My one real complaint about the story though is about the postmortems--the descriptions and the doctor's terminology seem very modern and I find it difficult to believe that the country doctor who appears later in the story would be just as modern as the doctor in London. I haven't done a lot of research on medical practices in the Regency era, but C. S. Harris, the author of the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series (another favorite), has. She has a Ph.D. in European history and her surgeon knows as much as he does about the dead and the effects of various murder methods and diseases because he uses bodies brought to him by grave robbers for research. I doubt the country doctor here has had the benefit of such anatomical researches. But that quibble aside, this is a good historical mystery for those who enjoy the Regency period.  ★★★ and 3/4

Last line: Pulling his greatcoat closed to ward off the chill, Atlas bounded down the stairs and went into the night.

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Deaths = 4 (one bled to death; two natural; one carriage accident)