Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets by Rosemary Simpson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong Language


 
Childbirth can be dangerous even for the wealthy. So when opera singer Claire Buchanan shows Prudence and Geoffrey a postmortem cabinet photograph of her deceased twin sister and newborn niece, they express sadness but not surprise. The popular black-bordered portraits are the era's way of coping with the devastating losses that plague every family. What makes this death different is that Claire is convinced Catherine and her child were murdered.

This is the third book I've read in this series and unfortunately I've found that the books have become less and less interesting. I really loved What the Dead Leave Behind and I thought Lies That Comfort and Betray was good but not as good as the previous book. This book is a distant third. The main reason for this is the fact that there is little to no mystery in this book. We know who murders whom and even why pretty much from the start. Add to that Prudence being stupidly reckless in the name of independence and it just made for a disappointing read. Sorry Prudence but if you want to be taken seriously stop doing stupid things and use your brain a little bit more.

One thing I've been waiting to develop more is the relationship between Prudence and Geoffrey. After three books of almost no movement on that front, it does look like maybe that will change in book four. I really hope so because I found the characters and relationships rather boring in this book. They all just seemed a little cardboard here, which shouldn't be the case after three books. I'm not giving up on this series yet, but I'm less enthused about it now.

Like the previous two books in the series, this one inspired a couple of web searches. This time around it was Mullett's Monstrosity -- the post office building that stood in New York City during that time period, and postmortem cabinet photography -- what a weird and rather macabre fad from that time period.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.