A LETHAL ENGAGEMENT

In 1890, a newly engaged woman battles the odds to retain her inheritance and solve a series of murders in an exceptionally trying setting.

Cora Beaumont is proud of one particular reminder of her late father: the Lady Air, an ocean-crossing airship that’s quite the rarity. Cora, who’s engaged to Terrance Tristan, second son of the Duke of Exford and Debensley, is wealthy, attractive, and well brought up, but she’s American, and her blood’s not blue enough to win acceptance from a host of British snobs traveling across the ocean on the Lady Air. But Terrance’s cousin, the adventurous Lady Ophelia Hortense, is fast becoming Cora’s bosom buddy. The two of them are sharing a chaperone whose job is to teach Cora the ways of the aristocracy while keeping Ophelia in line. Also on the airship is Terrance’s older brother, Nicholas, whose resemblance to him is limited to the physical. Ophelia takes a liking to Lord Dawson Davies, and Terrance seems much more attached to some of the actors providing entertainment than to his fiancée. Cora’s anxiety about making a faux pas fades to insignificance when she learns that the body of a woman has been found in third class with the letter “C” carved into her abdomen. Surprisingly, she finds Nicholas an excellent partner in crime detection even as Terrance continues to avoid her. The murderer, who of course is still on the airship with nowhere to go, boldly strikes again and again, leaving an initial carved on each body. Can Cora and Nicholas solve the crimes and come to terms with their growing attraction to each other?

A locked-airship mystery with plenty of suspects, captivating characters, and a surprising denouement.