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    A Lady in the Smoke: A Victorian Mystery
    A Lady in the Smoke: A Victorian Mystery
    A Lady in the Smoke: A Victorian Mystery
    Audiobook13 hours

    A Lady in the Smoke: A Victorian Mystery

    Written by Karen Odden

    Narrated by Mary Sarah

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Following a humiliating fourth Season in London, Lady Elizabeth Fraser is on her way back to her ancestral country estate when her train careens off the rails and bursts into flames. Though she is injured, she manages to drag herself and her unconscious mother out of the wreckage, and amid the chaos that ensues, a brilliant young railway surgeon saves her mother's life. Elizabeth feels an immediate connection with Paul Wilcox-though society would never deem a medical man eligible for the daughter of an earl.

    After Paul reveals that the train wreck was no accident, and the inspector who tried to prevent it dies under mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth undertakes a dangerous investigation of her own that leads back to her family's buried secrets. Not only are her dowry and her reputation at stake; Paul's very life hangs in the balance when he is arrested for manslaughter. Now Elizabeth must risk everything for the man who has found a place in her heart. As the trial draws near, and Parliament prepares for a vote that will change the course of the nation, she uncovers a conspiracy that has been years in the making. But time is running out to see justice done.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateFeb 14, 2017
    ISBN9781515987345
    A Lady in the Smoke: A Victorian Mystery
    Author

    Karen Odden

    KAREN ODDEN received her PhD in English literature from New York University and has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. She currently serves as an assistant editor for the academic journal Victorian Literature and Culture. Her debut novel, A Lady in the Smoke, was a USA Today bestseller.

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    Reviews for A Lady in the Smoke

    4/5

    57 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A horrible train wreck injures Lady Elizabeth Fraser and her mother when they are on their way home from London, fleeing rumors of their lost fortune. They are treated by Railway Surgeon Paul Wilcox. Elizabeth helps him all night as he treats other injured passengers in the scullery of the inn where they were taken. She comes to admire him very much despite their very different levels of society.Elizabeth also meets Tom Flynn who is Paul's friend and a reporter for a London newspaper. She overhears them talking about some things that she doesn't understand at first. Tom is convinced that the accident was no accident but was deliberate sabotage designed to bring down the share prices of the railroad line. This impacts Elizabeth because a good portion of her dowry is invested in shares in that railroad.Elizabeth is determined to investigate and get to the bottom of the whole matter despite the fact that she is firmly discouraged by her family. After all, ladies don't behave like that. They don't risk their reputations by getting involved with men from a lower social strata. Elizabeth's determination grows even stronger when he is arrested and to be tried for manslaughter for the death of one of the people he treated.This was a nicely plotted mystery filled with all sorts of twists and turns and all sorts of secret, and not so secret, relationships. I was firmly convinced that anyone who waxed nostalgic for Victorian times was not seeing what things were really like. No woman of sense would put up with the roadblocks that Elizabeth faced as a matter of routine. Nor would any modern person wish to subject themselves to Victorian medicine. Elizabeth's frustration was almost a character in itself in this mystery.Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy this excellent mystery and romance.
    • 3/5
      I couldn't get past the reader's very strange reading. The accent she used is extremely affected and the vowels are all over the place.
    • 4/5
      After another season in London, Lady Elizabeth Fraser is one her way home when she is ijuried in a train wreck. After meeting railway surgeion Paul Wilcox and newspaperman Tom Flynn she becomes involved in a conspiracy of many years in the making.
      A quite slow paced but interesting mystery with some well-developed characters.
    • 3/5
      I enjoy mystery stories very much. I do not read much historical fiction, but the premise sounded intriguing. There is a lot to learn about the railway business in the 1800's. The story concerns a train accident, that may or may not be sabotage. As Elizabeth Fraser becomes more entwined in the story, she must figure out if there was an act of sabotage, and if more are to come. Railway agents are being murdered, and it feels as though someone is trying to bring down the railways.

      I thought the mystery was a solid one. There is also an element of romance, but it was secondary to the mystery. The pacing of the story was a little slower that I would like, but it did seem to fit with the setting of the story in the 1800's.

      I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley
    • 4/5
      This novel centres around the aftermath of a horrific railway crash in 1874, which the eponymous lady, Elizabeth Frazer, survives together with her mother. The drama of this opening section is not quite matched throughout the novel, though there is a gripping trial sequence later on. There is rather over-complicated and somewhat implausible plotting going on in the background, which underpins the train crash, the trial and a number of incidents in Elizabeth's past history. The novel's title perhaps makes it sounds rather more gothic/Wilkie Collins than it is. While the author has clearly done a lot of research, I did see a couple of errors: a reference to characters discussing the "latest Dickens installment", four years after he died; and the possible trial sentence being transportation to Australia, when the last such transportation took place in 1867. Finally, I was baffled by a reference in the author's note to a character not present in the novel: "My sadistic Dr. Wharton Sinkler was a real person, and he did wield a hot poker in the courtroom, although he lived in the 1890s in America. But he was too good to leave out". Well, she did leave him out, at least in the published version. Overall, though despite these annoying errors, I enjoyed this and would read more by this author - her follow up novel described on her website sounds intriguing.
    • 2/5
      I'm not sure why I had a hard time with this story. It was written well, yet I had a hell of a time connecting with the main protagonists.

      I also had a hard time following the plot, which wasn't bad in itself, it just took forever to develop.


      If you like your historical romances with a lot of history in it, this one is just the thing then, but for me, it was just okay.

      Melanie for b2b

      Complimentary copy provided by the publisher
    • 5/5
      Lady Elizabeth Fraser and her mother are coming home from another disappointing Season in London. Elizabeth's mother is very disappointed especially because she knows something she hasn't shared with her daughter. That is; her daughter's fortune is in jeopardy. The investments Elizabeth's father made are not bringing in profit. Right after this argument the train the ladies are on crashes. Elizabeth and her mom are knocked unconscious. Elizabeth comes around first and with the help of an unknown man is able to get her mom and herself off the train and far enough away to be safe. Along comes Paul Wilcox, a railroad surgeon who treats Elizabeth and her mother's most serious injuries and then puts them on a cart to a local hotel. Later Elizabeth assists Mr. Wilcox to help those who are injured. Elizabeth finds out that the train is part of the railroad properties her father owned stock in and that is currently in jeopardy of being closed. Also surprising is that Mr. Wilcox and people he is working with are investigating the railroad company for safety issues.

      I really enjoyed this book. The historical aspects were well researched and the characters were consistent with those of that time period. While this has romantic aspects that didn't take away from the mystery which was central to the storyline. Well done and I hope to read more from this author.
    • 4/5
      A train goes off the rails in 1874, and the aftermath brings together people who ordinarily would never have crossed paths. I think I expected this to be much of a muchness with other Victorian novels, but very quickly learned how wrong I was. From the very beginning, as the horrors of the accident are detailed, it was pretty clear that this would be blazing its own trail.Elizabeth Fraser, fresh from her fourth disappointing London Season, has her hands full and more than full with her addicted mother, and there's another point of difference for this book. Partly to escape the oppression of looking after the woman, partly because her assistance is genuinely needed, Elizabeth lends her aid to the doctor (Paul Wilcox) who follows the casualties placed, along with her and her mother, in a boardinghouse, and then goes with him on his other calls. That actually annoyed me a little. Whether or not Wilcox has any idea that Elizabeth is a capital-L Lady, or just a young lower-case-L lady, it seemed like a remarkably bad idea for him to allow her to go with him to the much more desperate neighborhoods he has to enter. She gets an education that night. And, of course,she begins to fall in love with one of the more inappropriate men to cross her path. I liked her; I liked him. I did not much care for the fact that Paul joins the ranks of Regency, Edwardian, and Victorian novel characters to have as a sidekick a young street urchin who once tried to pick his pocket. There seem to be a lot of them out there. It would be kind of nice to think that in the 1870's a young man's first impulse would be to put such a boy, caught in the act, to work – but I don't have much faith in the vision. I'm not entirely sure the whole motivation behind the mystery – this train crash not being the first of its kind of late – is entirely logical – it seemed to me that the plot would end up costing more money than it saved or earned – but then, major conspiracies (either in theory or practice) aren't always logical. But the investigation – in which Elizabeth only takes part in ways that actually make sense, which is refreshing – is logical, and ties together quite nicely. Though there were some hiccups in the writing – a bit of a tendency toward Recapitis (Yes. I know. You just told me that a few pages ago), a little bit of ponderousness at times – on the whole I enjoyed the plotting and the writing. The acid test for a book in a series that is new to me, by an author new to me, is whether I'll look for more – and in this case I believe I will. The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
    • 4/5
      I've read a lot of Victorian novels and mysteries so I'm always looking for a new author and title that will tickle my fancy, and this one surely did! Very well written with a great plot and interesting characters that weave historical fact into a fictional mystery. I look forward to reading more by this author!
    • 4/5
      Interesting Victorian romantic mystery that starts with a train derailment. Lady Elizabeth and her mother are helped from the train by an unknown man and then waited in the field until a young doctor came to attend to them and then helped them on to a cart which took them to a hotel that was acting as a make-shift hospital. Elizabeth helps the doctor during the night acting as a nurse. This sets up the basis for the story since no one knows she’s an Earl’s daughter and a match with a doctor is out of the question. Meanwhile there’s a plot involving a scam with railroad stocks and property.
    • 5/5
      Lady Elizabeth and her mother are involved in a railway accident. Hiding her social status, Elizabeth helps surgeon Paul Wilcox as he treats the injured. When Elizabeth learns that there may be more to the accident, she works to unravel the mystery and conspiracy surrounding the rails.Although this is not one of my favorite genres, I really enjoyed this book. The characters were very likeable. I would be interested in reading more from this author. Overall, well worth picking up.
    • 5/5
      Gripping!This is a totally engaging historical Victorian mystery. Lady Elizabeth Fraser is returning from her failed London season to her home. The train she is travelling in is involved in an horrific accident. Elizabeth is freed from the wreck but cannot escape the carnage she is part of. Once safe in a guest house she discovers the handsome surgeon, Paul Wilcox, who had attended her at the disaster site, is operating on the kitchen table with no-one to assist him. Elizabeth steps up, even though if anyone knew her true status she would be a figure of scandal, despite the extenuating circumstances.What she doesn't know is that their lives will become even more entwined when Paul is arrested and charged with having caused the death of one of his patients.As Elizabeth tries to sort out the truth she finds herself embroiled in a conspiracy to do with the railway development, that government knowledge is being used to defraud and undercut shareholders, and that murder and the deliberate wrecking of trains are all a part and parcel of a bigger picture. The shocks continue as she realizes that beyond this even, is retribution and vengeance involving her family.The scenes of Newgate and of Paul's trial are convincing, as is the part Elizabeth plays.A virtuoso beginning novel, with I hope more to come! A NetGalley ARC