This was a great read! I didn't realize until after I requested the title that it was fourth in a series, so I wasn't sure I would be able to follow, but the author did a great job of making it accessible to readers who didn't have the information from the previous three books. It was entertaining, and I almost immediately cared about Dody, Pike, and Florence.

Even though I have a degree in history, I don't know much about this period of British history, so reading this book was an almost educational experience. I was prompted to look up and research some of the elements mentioned in the story about the treatment of women and the insane. I was hoping these elements were fabricated or exaggerated, but sadly they were not. It's always a good thing to be reminded about how far we have come as a society, but it's hard to imagine such horrors being propagated just a little over a hundred years ago in a "civilized" country.

I'm definitely putting the other Dody McCleland books on my To-Read list and hope to see more titles released by this author soon. I would definitely recommend this series for anyone who enjoys historical fiction or mystery.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.