Dinner Most Deadly by Sheri Cobb South

Narrated by Joel Froomkin

Note: This review contains spoilers for earlier books in the series.

Sheri Cobb South’s series of historical mysteries featuring the charming young Bow Street Runner John Pickett continues apace with the fourth full-length novel in the series, Dinner Most Deadly. It’s another enjoyable mix of murder-mystery and romance, but here, the romantic angle is as much the focus as the mystery, as John and the love of his life, Lady Julia Fieldhurst, struggle to deal with the ramifications of their recent masquerade as Mr. and Mrs. Pickett in book three, Family Plot. This instalment is particularly angsty in terms of their continuing relationship; John has been in love with Julia since they met in book one, In Milady’s Chamber, and while it’s taken Julia longer to realise the truth of her feelings for the thoughtful, insightful and achingly sweet young man who is so devoted to her, she is finally starting to see them for what they really are. But… a viscountess and a thief-taker who earns the princely sum of twenty-five shillings a week? The social divide between them is too great to permit even the merest nodding acquaintance.

Or… it should be. At the end of Family Plot, John’s mentor, Magistrate Patrick Colquhoun, pointed out that because John and Julia had publicly pretended to be man and wife during the investigation they had pursued while in Scotland, they are, in fact, married under Scottish law – and that the marriage is perfectly legal in England. As Dinner Most Deadly opens, John, who has been back in London for a couple of weeks, has yet to work up the courage to tell his ‘wife’ the truth, while Lady Julia has been out of sorts ever since she returned from Scotland and doesn’t know why. Or rather, she knows perfectly well why, but is attempting to remain in denial about it.

Her closest friend, Lady Emily Dunnington decides Julia needs to be hauled out of her fit of the blue-devils, and suggests – again – that Julia should find herself a lover. Julia, who knows there’s only one man she really wants (but that she can’t have him), tries to get her friend to drop the idea, but Emily is persistent, and announces she will host a dinner party to which she will invite a number of suitable gentlemen for Julia to choose from.

Julia is still feeling rather insecure after her last attempt to secure a lover (she propositioned John at the end of Family Plot) went badly wrong and he turned her down. So, torn between dread of opening herself up once more to rejection and a rather desperate need for confirmation of her own desirability, she tells herself that perhaps Emily is right; maybe some male companionship is what she needs in order to help her to put John out of her mind. The night of the dinner arrives, and Emily has secured the attendance of a half-dozen attractive, unattached (well, mostly) men, including Sir Rupert Latham, the man with whom Julia had been about to embark upon an affair in the first book. (Things didn’t quite proceed as planned when they entered her room to discover her dead husband’s body lying on the floor. Must have been quite the mood killer!)

Time was when Julia would have been happy to have been the subject of the attention of such appealing gentlemen and to consider something more with one of them. But there is an oddly strained atmosphere at the dinner table, which Julia realises is due to the fact that the guests are clearly not pleased at the presence of Sir Reginald Montague, an imposing, good-looking man whose appeal seems to lie in the aura of danger that emanates from him.

Juila can’t help but wonder what it is about the man that causes the others to treat him with such veiled hostility – but her musings are brought to a halt when Emily’s estranged husband arrives at the house, and demands to see her. Julia tries valiantly to steer attention away from the sounds of marital discord coming from the next room, and not long after Donnington departs and the dinner ends, the guests take their leave, until only Sir Reginald – who has made his interest in Emily clear – remains. He, too, is on his way out when the sound of shots rings out – and Julia and Emily rush to the front hall, only to discover him lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

It’s Emily who insists on sending for “your Mr. Pickett”, as she terms him to Julia, and our intrepid young hero finds himself once again sleuthing within the hallowed halls of Mayfair as he works to discover the identity of Sir Reginald’s murder. As the case progresses, he learns that the other gentlemen present at the dinner party all had good reason to despise the victim and even to want him dead; but which of them – if any – pulled the trigger?

The mystery is nicely done, and as I wasn’t able to guess the identity of the culprit before the reveal, it came as a surprise, which is always a good thing in a mystery novel! But the meat of the story – for me, at least – is found in the complications of the increasingly angsty relationship between John and Julia. John knows it’s ridiculous to harbour any hopes that Julia might wish their marriage to stand, but even so, is hurt when she quickly suggests they seek an annulment. When it emerges there is only one way such a thing can happen (so often in historical romances, the idea of getting a marriage annulled is treated as though it’s easy, when it really wasn’t), Julia is horrified by the thought of John having to subject himself to intimate, humiliating medical examinations – but he is resigned to doing what he must and there really is no other way. I admit I was a little annoyed with her at this point. She clearly loves John but isn’t – yet – willing to put him before maintaining her position in society; but on the other hand, I can understand her reluctance to set aside the life she’s known for one that will be unlike anything she’s imagined for herself or been brought up to. It’s quite the dilemma, and Ms. Cobb South does a very good job of keeping emotions high and stretching out the tension. Seeing this is the fourth in a seven (so far) book series, I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say that the lump-in-the-throat ending isn’t the last word in the relationship.

I’ve been impressed with Joel Froomkin’s work on this series (and other narrations of his I’ve listened to) and continue to be so. He delivers another highly accomplished performance which works on every level; his pacing, characterisation and differentiation are all excellent and he really gets to grips with the emotional undercurrent that runs between John and Julia and throughout the story. The writing is skilfully understated and his performance equally so while at the same time breathing life and sometimes heart-breaking emotion into the exchanges between the couple – but he never goes over the top. These are Regency characters who act and speak in a way that feels right for the period, and Mr. Froomkin obviously ‘gets it’. His interpretation of the various characters is extremely good, from the aristocratic hauteur and smarm of Julia’s former beau, to the cheeky sweetness of Dulcie, the housemaid, and the bluff Scottish-ness of Magistrate Colquhoun. But as usual, the star turns are the portrayals of the two principals; John’s intelligence, earnestness and all-round decency are evident in his voice, and as I’ve said before, the rendition of Julia is so good as to make it easy to forget that one is listening to a man!

A well-conceived mystery, an angsty romance and expert narration all combine to make Dinner Most Deadly an enjoyable listen, and it’s one I’m happy to recommend.

Caz