Dressed for Death by Juliana Deering

A few years ago, my mother and I got hooked on the Drew Farthering Series. The intrigue, the fun, the mystery, the romance, was absolutely wonderful, and they were easy reads.

Dressed for Death is the fourth in the series.

Drew and Madeline attend a Regency Era themed party for a week. Whilst there, they meet up with Drew's old friend, Talbot Cummins and his bride-to-be Alice Henley. Things are just a little off from the get-go, and Alice promptly dies of an apparent cocaine overdose.

Soon, Drew discovers that a man who he has trusted and admired for years has been selling cocaine on the sly, and he realizes that things aren't always what they appear to be.

As I have said before, I loved this series. However, this one just didn't do it for me. I kind of felt that Ms. Deering was starving in a way, and it showed throughout the weak plot. A few things that I felt were not the best in the story was 1. Drew was very..... melancholy, for lack of a better word. There wasn't any joy or fun like there had been in the previous novels. He was constantly down-in-the-dumps, and sometimes just plain depressed. He seemed to blame himself for everything. 2. the endless Jane Austen references! I know that many people could watch Pride and Prejudice over and over, but I just can't handle the movies or books. 3. The lack of clues. Through the most of the book, there seemed to be meaningless conversations or murders. The only significant clues came at nearly the end.

I wish that I could have loved this installment of Drew Farthering, but it just didn't do it for me.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion by Bethany House Publishers.