An Artless Demise by Anna Lee Huber

An Artless Demise by Anna Lee Huber ISBN-13: 9780451491367 Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: Berkley Books Released: April 2, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
November 1831. After fleeing London in infamy more than two years prior, Lady Kiera Darby's return to the city is anything but mundane. A gang of body snatchers is arrested on suspicion of imitating the notorious misdeeds of Edinburgh criminals, Burke and Hare--killing people from the streets and selling their bodies to medical schools. All of London is horrified by the evidence that "burkers" are, indeed, at work in their city.

Kiera receives a letter of blackmail, threatening to divulge details about her late anatomist husband's involvement with the body snatchers and wrongfully implicate her. Not only is she in danger, but also her new husband and investigative partner, Sebastian Gage, and their unborn child.

Meanwhile, the young scion of a noble family has been found murdered a block from his home, and the man's family wants Kiera and Gage to investigate. Is it a failed attempt by the London burkers, having left the body behind, or the crime of someone much closer to home? Someone who stalks the privileged, using the uproar over the burkers to cover his own dark deeds?


My Review:
An Artless Demise is a mystery set in 1831 in London. It is the seventh book in a series, and the author repeatedly referred back to events in the previous books. It can be read as a standalone as the author provided plenty of detail about things that have happened in the past.

It seemed like all of the women were pregnant and talking about it in public situations. Anyway, the author focused the book around several "burkers" and included extensive details about their trial, from their arrest to their hanging. The sensation of this trial motivated someone to blackmail Lady Darby about her past, even though she had nothing to do with her husband's acquisition of bodies for his anatomy textbook. She's distracted by the snubs, rumors, and blackmail so that she and Gage didn't spend much time investigating the death of the heirs of several lords. They did ask questions and there were several clues, but the information needed to narrow down the suspects was not provided until nearly the end.

There were no sex scenes or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting mystery.


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.


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