Lady Emily Ashworth is staying with her husband’s uncle and having a miserable time of it. Her husband George, whom she married partly for his money and social position but also genuinely cares for, is giving every proof that he is indulging in an affair with another woman—his own cousin’s wife.

After days of strain, Emily believes that she has achieved a reconciliation with George. The next morning he’s found dead, and his family is only too happy to blame Emily for the crime. Emily’s brother-in-law, Inspector Thomas Pitt, is called in, but without evidence against anyone else, it seems only a matter of time before Emily must be arrested for her husband’s murder.

Anne Perry certainly doesn’t shrink from some of the more unsavoury aspects of Victorian society. The characters’ view of adultery as something dreadfully sinful and scandalous only when a woman does it is true to the period, though infuriating. I liked the book no better, but also no worse, than any of the others in the series so far. ( )