A Most Intriguing Lady
We first meet our heroine, Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott—the ‘intriguing lady’ of the title, and daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch—risking her neck by dancing along a stone parapet on the roof of Drumlanrig Castle in the Scottish Borders. It’s 1872, and this is not quite the behaviour that onlooker Colonel Walter Trefusis is expecting. It’s an arresting opening to this historical romance and paves the way for an unlikely crime fighting partnership, with the resourceful Lady Mary and the war-battered Colonel joining forces to uncover society crimes.
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, is no stranger to high society and daring escapades. There is something of her own character in Lady Mary, albeit the latter is a wallflower who largely goes unnoticed, which could never be said for the Duchess of York. This is Ferguson’s second foray into adult fiction, with her first, Her Heart for a Compass, in the Sunday Times bestseller list. It’s the second time she has worked with Marguerite Kaye, who has written almost sixty historical romances for Mills & Boon.
The novel’s two protagonists really did exist, as did other characters in the book. The reader knows exactly where their relationship is headed, and it’s hardly a spoiler alert to say the couple end up as more than just partners in solving crime. The reader senses that Ferguson and Kaye had great fun filling in the gaps by inventing stories and details to add flesh to the bones. The book has been carefully researched, with some evocative locations such as Cliveden and Newburgh Priory making an appearance. With the haves and have-nots cast, and the stately home settings alongside grubby Victorian London, this lively book would lend itself very well to adaptation for the small screen.
