Celeste Connally's smart Regency-era mystery, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord, introduces a bold amateur sleuth who, like her creator, isn't afraid to challenge patriarchal structures and enjoy herself in the process.
Lady Petra Forsyth is used to doing as she pleases: riding astride, running her father's household, and answering to no one. She's publicly declared she'll never marry. But when Petra hears that a friend has died under mysterious circumstances, she and her best friend, Lady Caroline, start sniffing around, and they uncover the existence of a country estate where women who are struggling (or simply headstrong) are locked away and subjected to horrific medical "experiments." Petra and Caroline--along with Petra's maid Annie and her frenemy, Duncan Shawcross, recently returned to London--hatch a plan to rescue the women, but they will face danger (both physical and emotional) in the process.
Connally (Lineage Most Lethal, writing as S.C. Perkins) creates an appealing protagonist in Petra, whose curiosity and moxie are matched by her kindness. Having lost her fiancé to an accident just before her wedding, Petra believes in love (just not for herself), but is unwilling to give up her independence and turn her property over to any man. Petra's quick-witted maid, Annie, also proves vital to the eventual solving of the case; Connally muses thoughtfully on the limitations of being a woman in various social positions. But the narrative zips along with wit and plenty of surprises--including a cliffhanger that will leave readers eager for Petra's next adventure. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams