A Malevolent Connection

Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries, Book 9

By: Lynn Messina

Narrated by: Jill Smith

Despite suffering a few initial setbacks, the former Beatrice Hyde-Clare has settled into her new position nicely.

Thanks to Lady Abercrombie’s machinations, she has secured the admiration of society and finally earned the respect of her staff. Even the lessons in defending herself, which her husband, the Duke of Kesgrave, insists she take if she wants to continue in her dangerous avocation, are going well. Save for the dreaded pineapple chunks chef André insists on putting in her beloved rout cakes, everything is perfect.

But then she learns from a most unlikely source that Kesgrave’s malevolent uncle is scheming to destroy her happiness. Determinedly, she resolves to meet the threat head-on - a plan that immediately goes awry when the duke asks her to allow him to handle the matter.

Stand idly by while dark forces muster?

Well, no, Bea can’t possibly do that - especially not when the villainous relation winds up bludgeoned to death with a candlestick.

©2021 Lynn Messina (P)2022 Lynn Messina

Perfect blend of mystery,romance and humor!

This series never disappoints. The narrator perfectly sets each characters voice in every episode, so you know them as I individual entities. It makes each story like visiting old friends..Our heroine never disappoints and the duke’s ability to understand his quirky mate is endearing.

Fantastic Austin-Esqu Mystery Series Continues

By book 9 in many series or once characters get married the quality tends to drop, but that is not the case here. I absolutely love this series and I am loving the new complexity of Bea both navigating marriage and life as a duchess. Quite frankly it's rather entertaining watching the Duke adjust to married life and learn to work in all things as a team. The mystery element continues to be a fun puzzle and has enough twist and turns to keep you guessing to the end. No cliffhanger but I still can't wait for the next book!

Parents- PG13 - high school and up readers
Language- none
Violence- PG- murders are kept free of overly graphic detail
Sexual Content- PG13- they are still very much newly weds and while there are no actual sex scenes there is a lot of make out scenes, them adjusting clothing back into place, and teasing each other about better uses of time and the like

The narrator is top notch and one of the few that I can't listen to sped up. She just fits the characters so perfectly and is simply fun to listen to.

Absolute love!

Lynn Messina has created characters that I love and hope the books never stop coming.

Jill Smith is an amazing narrator!

I really have enjoyed this series as a whole. The witty repartee and growing relationship between Damien and Beatrice elevates a good book into an amazing journey of love, discovery, and of course, mystery. This is one of my all-time favorite series. I can't wait for the next installment. Jill Smith is such a great narrator because she can convey the emotion of the moment, or the sarcasm of the next riposte. One of the greatest things Jill does is give each character, actual character. Every voice is different and easily identifiable. You can tell the difference between Aunt Vera and the Countess of Abercrombie. You don't have to wait for the author to identify anyone because Jill Smith is an absolute professional and crafts each characters sound. In so many audiobooks you can't tell the characters apart because they mostly sound the same. Not so with this narrator! This series is definitely worth your time and absolutely a must-listen!

A Malevolent Connection

This one started off a little slower than some of the others, but once it got going it didn’t disappoint. I always say this, but the complex secondary characters are one of the things that make these books so much richer than many in the genre. I didn’t care much for the friction that was placed between Bea and Kesgrave in this book. I’ve found that following one couple in a long series can be difficult because of seemingly manufactured points of contention in their relationship that can feel very forced, as I believe happened here. The mystery was, again, very well done and I found the revelation of the true motive to be particularly satisfying.
I received a free Audible copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.