I wanted to clear my palate after reading so much fantasy and this hit all the right notes. Bea is an orphan being kindly tolerated by her aunt and uncle and has learnt to be quiet and supplicant, because that is the only way to survive, especially now that she is a spinster with no prospects. That does not stop her from being an intelligent person who likes to read about all kinds of topics and have witty remarks or smart thoughts about people. She is very likeable for the most part and her way of doing things was a bit too forward, but also really on-point with how she was portrayed.
Bea's banter with Duke of Kesgrave was always giving me smiles, because both seem such fun and smart characters! There is no actual romance in this, but it does give you small things here and there to keep you wanting for a bit more! The other characters were refreshing, really. Some might have been a bit more caricatured in their existence, but honestly, it just made the book even more fun!
The mystery? It was cozy and fairly fast. I figured out the murderer around the middle of the book, but the whole revelation was a thing to behold!
All in all, this was such a fun read and for the victorian-esque vibe it was going for, the vocabulary was a bit upper level and I learnt a decent amount of words!