I tend more toward fantasies and mysteries, but I always have a soft spot for historical romantic suspense and confess I've read every single book by Jayne Ann Krentz in her historical persona of Amanda Quick, nearly all of her books as Jayne Castle and a few under her own name. 'TIL DEATH DO Us PART, the latest gem by Amanda Quick deviates somewhat from her norm: It takes place in Victorian London rather than the Regency era;, it's darker, with a gothic feel; and the romance is there but not at the forefront. As you may have guessed from my listed preferences, I'm not a romance reader at heart, so this didn't bother me, but it might others who look for romance to serve as the main attraction. Never fear, we still have a dashing and mysterious hero and an independent-minded female who pair up to solve multiple murders in this case.

Calista Langley owns an "introductions" business where she hosts salons for single women and men to meet each other for companionship, friendship and hopefully a lasting relationship. Fearing that Calista is taking advantage of his sister, Trent Hastings, a popular but reclusive mystery author, shows up to question Calista about her tactics and motives. Suffice it to say, it's not love at first sight.

At the same time, someone is leaving memento mori for Calista. These are gifts meant for those in deepest mourning such as a black ring meant to hold a lock of hair of a loved one. Calista is terrified because the ring was carved with her own initials, and she found it in her bed. Somehow a stranger snuck into her bedroom to leave this grim present. Trent happens to visit soon after Calista has received another malicious emblem and offers his detective skills and contacts, learned and acquired during research for his mystery novels, to help her find out who is stalking her and why.

Quick's talent for both plotting and dialog are on display in this stand-alone tale, and she has definitely ratcheted up the creepiness factor a degree or two. Calista and Trent set out on a cat and mouse game to discover their quarry, but Quick has incorporated numerous twists and turns, many of the totally unexpected. Quick spends more time on the mystery itself rather than the relationship building between the hero and heroine which I frankly enjoyed. But readers who crave an ever-present romance element and for the romance to play the primary role in the book, might be disappointed. This isn't to say, no time is spent on romance, it just isn't the primary focus. I will always read new books by Amanda Quick and most often, I'll adore them. 'TIL DEATH DO Us PART ranks up there as one of the most intriguing.

Book Summary

Calista Langley operates an exclusive “introduction” agency in Victorian London, catering to respectable ladies and gentlemen who find themselves alone in the world. But now, a dangerously obsessed individual has begun sending her trinkets and gifts suitable only for those in deepest mourning—a black mirror, a funeral wreath, a ring set with black jet stone. Each is engraved with her initials.

Desperate for help and fearing that the police will be of no assistance, Calista turns to Trent Hastings, a reclusive author of popular crime novels. Believing that Calista may be taking advantage of his lonely sister, who has become one of her clients, Trent doesn’t trust her. Scarred by his past, he’s learned to keep his emotions at bay, even as an instant attraction threatens his resolve.

But as Trent and Calista comb through files of rejected clients in hopes of identifying her tormentor, it becomes clear that the danger may be coming from Calista’s own secret past—and that only her death will satisfy the stalker...