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    A Grave Matter
    A Grave Matter
    A Grave Matter
    Audiobook13 hours

    A Grave Matter

    Written by Anna Lee Huber

    Narrated by Heather Wilds

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Returning to her childhood home, Lady Kiera Darby hopes her beloved brother Trevor and the merriment of the Hogmanay Ball will distract her. But when a caretaker is murdered and a grave is disturbed at nearby Dryburgh Abbey, Kiera is once more thrust into the cold grasp of death.


    While Kiera knows that aiding in another inquiry will only further tarnish her reputation, her knowledge of anatomy could make the difference in solving the case. But agreeing to investigate means Kiera must deal with the complicated emotions aroused in her by inquiry agent Sebastian Gage.


    When Gage arrives, he reveals that the incident at the Abbey was not the first-some fiend is digging up old bones and holding them for ransom. Now they must catch the grave robber . . . before another victim winds up six feet under.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateOct 20, 2014
    ISBN9781494574925
    A Grave Matter
    Author

    Anna Lee Huber

    Anna Lee Huber is the Daphne award–winning author of the national bestselling Lady Darby Mysteries and the Verity Kent Mysteries. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in music and minored in psychology. She currently resides with her family and is hard at work on her next novel.

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    Reviews for A Grave Matter

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Scotland, December 1830. Lady Kiera Darby has returned to her childhood home of Blakelaw House. Where she attends a Hogmanay Ball at Dryburgh house, the home of her aunt and uncle. Unfortunately the first-footer event is disrupted by the news of a murder and body-snatchers at nearby Dryburgh Abbey. Kiera is involved in the investigation and is asked to invite Sebastian Gage to help. But this is not the first or the last body to be removed.
      An enjoyable and well-written mystery, with the romance developing more between Gage and Kiera.

    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this instalment in this series. Lady Kiera Darby is in her brother's house for Hogmany, grieving for William and trying to work out what her relationship with Gage is. The first-footer is interrupted by a bloodstained servant who informs them about another servant who is dead and the case is on. Long-dead bones are missing and it's not the first. This is the first time that features a murder though. Kiera seeks the assistance of Gage and the two of them start an investigation that involves the Edinburgh underworld and a pretender to the Scottish Throne.I like this series and the characters and it's good to see someone have emotions on the page. Kiera is quite depressed at the beginning of the book and most of her family are quite worried about her but by the end she has found a purpose in her life.
    • 5/5
      Keira is staying at her brother’s home and asks Gage to come and investigate the grave robbery of a friend’s father for ransom. There have been other grave robberies of wealthy society men and the case turns to a missing gold medallion. Meanwhile Keira and Gage are growing closer, his father disapproves of Keira and has arranged a society match for Gage. She had a terrible marriage and is worried that Gage is interested in her talent as an artist and her knowledge of anatomy learned from her late husband. Gage is very secretive and it's difficult for him to trust because of his childhood.
    • 5/5
      After spending some time with her sister and brother-in-law in Edinburgh to try to recover from her friend Will's death, Keira is back in her childhood home staying with her brother. Her art, which is usually her solace, is letting her down. She has been working on the same landscape for quite a while - and she hates painting landscapes. She is hoping that the annual Hogmanay Ball at her aunt and uncles will serve as a distraction but the death of a caretaker and a disturbed grave bring back all kinds of old memories.She reluctantly asks Gage to come and investigate. Her relationship with Gage is a big part of her confusion. She doesn't know what he wants from her or what she wants from him. She does know that she wants to be involved in the investigation. It seems odd that resurrectionists would be interested in an old grave. Surely, all that would be left would be bones.Gage and Keira soon learn that the bones were taken from the grave and everything else was left behind. Soon, a ransom demand arrives. The current Lord Buchan needs to pay to get his father's bones back. Keira, Gage and some others try to follow when the ransom is paid but lose the horse. Some further research finds that Lord Buchan's father is not the first to have his grave disturbed and his bones stolen. Four other men who were also members of the Society of Antiquaries have had the same thing happen. This leads them to a man who is accusing members of the Society of stealing a gold torc that his aunt had donated to the Society. Of course, there are other potential suspects. Some of the nephews of the men whose bones were stolen for ransom could have need of the ransom money. Then there is Mr. Stuart who is a descendant of Bonnie Prince Charlie who might have a grudge against the men. Adding to the mix is Edinburgh crime lord Bonnie Brock Kincaid who is also looking for the graverobbers since they were his men until they left town with his sixteen-year-old sister. He is hoping Keira can bring her back to him.Besides the mystery, Keira and Gage are working on their relationship. Keira is hesitant to trust anyone after her bad marriage and Gage's secrecy doesn't help. When she finds out that Gage's father is angling for Gage to marry, she is hurt that he didn't tell her that he had a possible fiance. And when Gage proposes to Keira, Keira is afraid that he is just another man who wants to use her talents as an artist and investigator.This is an engaging series. I am enjoying watching Keira grow and change through the books. I like the way she is learning more about herself and what she wants out of life. I am also enjoying Gage gradually opening up to her.
    • 4/5
      A Grave Matter
      4 Stars

      Lady Kiera Darby returns to her childhood home to celebrate Hogmanay with friends and family when news comes that the caretaker of local abbey has been murdered and the grave of a long deceased aristocrat has been disturbed. Finding herself once again embroiled in an inquiry due to her knowledge of anatomy, Kiera is eager to help, but must also contend with her complicated feelings for Sebastian Gage who arrives with the news that this is just the most recent incident of grave robbers stealing bones and holding them for ransom.

      Although the mystery is intriguing, much of the investigation involves Kiera and Gage questioning suspects and witnesses. The dearth of suspects make it easy to guess the culprit, but the motive behind the crimes is compelling and the climax leads to some very intense and exciting moments.

      The real highlight of the story is the emphasis on Kiera and Gage’s developing romance. While the couple starts out circling each other warily as they have done in the previous installments, they finally admit the depth of their feelings for one another and take the inevitable next step. Although there are still obstacles to overcome in terms of the secrets in Sebastian’s past and Kiera’s fragile trust, it is clear that the two are definitely headed in the right direction.

      The secondary characters flesh out the narrative very well, however, one notorious crime boss Bonny Brock stands out from the rest and it will be interesting to see if Huber continues this storyline.

      Heather Wilds' narration takes some getting used to, but her Scottish accents and inflection are top notch.

      All in all, an engaging continuation to one of my favorite historical mysteries and I look forward to listening to the next one.
    • 4/5
      Author Anna Lee Huber has done it again! Third in the Lady Darby Mystery series, this book was fraught with tension and full of action. Lady Darby and Sebastian Gage are back on the case and their relationship dances about a wee bit more. But that's merely a side note. The key concern is who is ransoming the unearthed remains of the ton and cleverly getting by with it? It was only money until one caretaker catches them in the act and winds up dead. As hesitant as her uncle is to include her on the initial investigation, she, as it turns out, is the best person available to analyze the crime scene. Her notorious arranged marriage to an anatomist, had given her skill sets gladly not gathered by ladies in society. But a girl's gotta' do what a girl's got to do. I am eager to catch up with book #2 and plow forward on the remainder of the series. This is definitely a good one!Synopsis (from book's back cover):Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her dear friend, Lady Kiera Darby is in need of a safe haven. Returning to her childhood home, Kiera hopes her beloved brother Trevor and the merriment of the Hogmanay Ball will distract her. But when a caretaker is murdered and a grave is disturbed at nearby Dryburgh Abbey, Kiera is once more thrust into the cold grasp of death.While Kiera knows that aiding in another inquiry will only further tarnish her reputation, her knowledge of anatomy could make the difference in solving the case. But agreeing to investigate means Kiera must deal with the complicated emotions aroused in her by inquiry agent Sebastian Gage.When Gage arrives, he reveals that the incident at the Abbey was not the first—some fiend is digging up old bones and holding them for ransom. Now Kiera and Gage must catch the grave robber and put the case to rest…before another victim winds up six feet under.
    • 2/5
      Pretty frustrated at this point.

      I really enjoy mysteries but don't enjoy the terror/gore/violence that is sometimes added...my imagination is well developed, thank you very much.

      Given this, I was thrilled to discover a new series set in the early-mid 1800s and since I'm already reading (and waiting for new) Anne Perry and Charles Todd books, I downloaded the first 3 onto my kindle.

      The first one was okay. I though it was a debut so I was willing to give her some slack but I was pretty sure I'd figured out whodunit before Keira decided to go to the the bachelor quarters to question the detained wife. Yup, I had nailed it but Keira was "so shocked" and then began acting like she knew it all along and then she was "so shocked" that he was willing to violently kill 3 women to get what he wanted. "He was willing to kill 4 women and a baby!" ugh

      The second one was slightly better in terms of story. I knew the brother was alive very early on and had correctly guessed about the lunatic asylum but was pleased to see that that plot was handled a little better. But then about 70% through (it was on my kindle), it just started rushing together like the author needed to make a word quota and then everyone started dying left and right. grr The wrap up was ridiculous and I was pretty bugged and not really interested in book 3.

      But since it was already on my kindle (borrowed from the library thankfully), I decided to take a chance. Having just now finished it, I can say I'm done with Lady Darby. Tired of the massive amounts of angst. Tired of her acting like she's 15. Yes she had a horrible marriage but so did lots and lots of women. Buck up buttercup. He didn't appear to beat her...he didn't demand she give him tons of sex...he just made her sketch his dissections which she ADMITS enjoying after her initial squeamishness passed.

      I'm also quite done with the obvious romance angles in what is supposed to be a mystery. Why in the heck is Gage expected to make all of the moves? Why in the heck is she not appalled that he would dare to come to her room at night? She never ever questioned the ridiculousness OR the hypocrisy of this. Finally in this book he proposes but IT'S STILL NOT ENOUGH because he didn't convince her of his devotion!! ughhh He made a blinking blanking handmade painting bookcase for you woman!!! ughhhh

      I'm done.
    • 5/5
      A great series! I wish the next book was out already!
    • 4/5
      Strong series, good character development, strong sense of place and time, so-so on the mystery.
    • 5/5
      Well rats. It's over. I wasn't ready for it to be over. A Grave Matter is a mystery first, but almost equally it's a romance as things come to a head between Lady Darby and Sebastian Gage. Ms. Huber will always hold a special place in my heart for not dragging this out past the point of painful into inanity. There's plenty of conflict between these two but it avoids most of the overused tropes and these two are actually *gasp* honest and communicative! I thought the setting fabulously descriptive, although ironically, Edinburgh was the hardest of the locations for me to picture. The border villages and the Abbey were crystal clear and I could hear the frost crackling under their feet as they transversed the graveyards looking for evidence. I found myself reading aloud to MT about the first-footers and I was thrilled at the end of the story to read the author's note about the authenticity of this tradition. I'm wondering if I can get away with introducing it at our NYE festivities this year. The plot is delightfully macabre; not scary or graphic and completely fitting with Lady Darby's background and baggage. I'll admit I nabbed the bad guy early on, but I can't say what gave it away. Nevertheless, I was never absolutely certain. I wouldn't have been surprised had I been wrong. There might have been some anachronistic narrative; I can't say for certain, and I think it was almost all in the internal dialogue. While women for millennia have probably wished at one time or another to throw things at men, it feels too modern when Lady Darby "contemplated throwing a shoe at his head." I don't care about this, but others might find it jarring. But the scene at the end between Lady Darby and Gage made even this pragmatic non-romantic feel a bit mushy. Considering the chasteness of the period, Ms. Huber is very good at conveying romantic tension. (To be fair, there's a LOT of kissing going on; I'm betting more than considered acceptable for the time period. Go Lady Darbry!) There are a lot of things I could blather on about that I enjoyed; a GR friend is just now starting The Anatomist's Wife and I'm more than a little jealous - I wish I had 2 and a bit of these books still ahead of me. As it is, I'll be waiting a very long year to catch up with Lady Darby and Gage.