An Accusing at the Old Bailey by Erica Vetsch

An Accusing at the Old Bailey
by Erica Vetsch

ISBN-13: 9780825448645
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Released: October 13, 2026

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Sir Bertrand Thorndike is on another mission-this one in the scientific community. But when a simple game of espionage becomes a murder investigation and Bertie's friend Rhynwick Davies is the accused, Bertie enlists the help of his pseudo-fiancée Philippa Cashel to spare Rhynwick from the gallows. With the true killer still on the loose, Bertie must balance proving Rhynwick's innocence with his plans to persuade Philippa to make their false engagement real.


My Review:
An Accusing at the Old Bailey is a Christian romance set in 1816 in England. This is the 3rd book in a trilogy about Philippa and Bertrand and continues their story. While it can be read as a standalone, I'd recommend reading the trilogy in order. We left Bertie and Philippa pretending to be engaged to help her keep her inheritance, and we're told it might be a battle to keep it. At the beginning of this story, that's already completely resolved. No need for the engagement, except everyone thinks it's real and were making wedding plans. Bertie basically told Philippa that they ought to get married because their families would be disappointed if they didn't. No mention of love. And then he's off doing his thing, hardly spending time with her. While they do work well together, a romance really works best when the two actually spend time together. Bertie even thinks near the end how little he knows her, what she likes and such.

The the spy angle started out interesting, though I was never quite clear how the scientific presentations were supposed to expose the spy stealing other scientists' inventions. Then one scientist was murdered, and the spy investigation was handed off to other people to solve. Bertie, never very clever, doubted his own friend because the victim accused 'him' of killing him as he died. Hello, how would he know who poisoned him? Anyone could have made the poison, given the poison, and had a motive. Yet everyone seems to think that the man who was alone with him at the moment of his collapse must have killed him? I immediately identified two suspects, and it could have been either until the end. Bertie and Philippa only solved this case because whodunit confessed. The character who deliberately poisoned the victim was basically exiled as punishment, which was not realistic for the time.

On to the 'suspenseful' ending. They're in an L-shaped building with thugs ready to shoot if they leave through the two doors. Happily, they're in an L-shaped building, so it's an easy matter to leave through a ground floor window where the bad guys can't see them. Or wait for them to leave out of boredom, or set an ambush if they come inside. But, no, these brilliant scientists and spies decided to throw a bomb powerful enough to destroy a city block from the roof where it'd land at the base of their own building, all in hopes of stunning the thugs. Amazingly, they did not destroy a city block or burn the city down. They do something really stupid and unnecessary, they can't even solve murders or capture bag guys, and they're heroes at the end?! Mmm. Didn't work for me.

There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.