The Mayfair Dagger

Mystery, romance, and quirky characters combine in January’s (The Lady Detective) funny historical adventure reminiscent of TV’s Remington Steele. After Albertine Honeycombe’s father dies, her cousin intends to marry her off to a widower with 15 children. Albertine escapes to London where she assumes the name Countess Von Dagga and opens a detective agency serving upper-class women. The work doesn’t earn her much, so she advertises for a man to be the face of her detective agency. Spencer Sweetman, duke of Erleigh and an officer at Scotland Yard, shows up at Albertine’s house to question her about the death of Lord Grendel at a ball, and soon he’s roped into working for her. He begins to fall in love with her but can’t use his connections to save her when she’s arrested for killing Lord Grendel and the mysterious “Count Von Dagga” (Albertine’s made-up husband).