At her friend Ivy's behest, Emily reluctantly agrees to attend a party at the sprawling English country estate of Lord Fortescue, a man she fin... read full description
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Aug 18, 2008
Tina
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Lady Emily Ashton and her fiance the dashing Colin Hargreaves are invited to a shooting party at the home of a very influential member of the government, Lord Fortescue.
Lord Fortescue has taken a strong dislike to Lady Emily and makes it clear that he plans to sabotage any plans she has of actually getting Hargreaves to the altar. To that end, he has also invited the alluring Countess Von Lange. Emily learns to her chagrin that the lovely Countess is an old love of Colin's who sh More...
Lord Fortescue has taken a strong dislike to Lady Emily and makes it clear that he plans to sabotage any plans she has of actually getting Hargreaves to the altar. To that end, he has also invited the alluring Countess Von Lange. Emily learns to her chagrin that the lovely Countess is an old love of Colin's who sh More...
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Jan 09, 2008
Michelle
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Another ARC, to be published June 2008. This is the first book I've read by Tasha Alexander, although it is the third book in this particular series featuring Lady Emily Ashton. Previous books are And Only to Deceive and A Poisoned Season. This is a quick paced and fun historical mystery, set in Victorian England. A Fatal Waltz travels to Vienna, which the author depicts with wonderfully evocative writing. I'll recommend this series to fans of Elizabeth Peters, Victoria Thompson, Kate Ross, a
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Jul 02, 2008
LJ
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A FATAL WALTZ (Hist Mys/Amateur Sleuth-Emily, Lady Aston-England/Austria-Victorian) – G+
Alexander, Tasha – 3rd in series
William Morrow, 2008, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780061174223
First Sentence: I had not noticed it when she first arrived: the way she leaned too far towards him as he kissed her hand, the hint of surprised recognition in his eyes.
What begins as a tedious weekend in the country, for Emily, Lady Aston and her fiancé Colin Hargreaves, changes dram More...
Alexander, Tasha – 3rd in series
William Morrow, 2008, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780061174223
First Sentence: I had not noticed it when she first arrived: the way she leaned too far towards him as he kissed her hand, the hint of surprised recognition in his eyes.
What begins as a tedious weekend in the country, for Emily, Lady Aston and her fiancé Colin Hargreaves, changes dram More...
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Jun 08, 2008
Christa
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This is the third book in the series about Lady Emily Ashton, and while I have thoroughly enjoyed each one, I believe that this one is my favorite so far. I have enjoyed watching Emily's character grow and mature in each book. This time, she sets out to prove the innocence of Robert Brandon, her friend Ivy's husband, after he has been arrested for murder. The novel moves at a fast pace, and many of Emily's friends from the previous books appear as new ones are also introduced. At the end of
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Jun 22, 2008
Susan
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I got this from the library and read it in a couple of days, it was a good, quick read.
I enjoyed the first two books in this series - even if Lady Emily is far too modern for a Victorian lady, she's a lot of fun. I couldn't help feeling in this installment, however, that I almost wished Emily would fall for her lifelong friend Jeremy, I'm getting a little tired of her and Colin making eyes at each other and teasing each other with their overwhelming passion - get on with it, already More...
I enjoyed the first two books in this series - even if Lady Emily is far too modern for a Victorian lady, she's a lot of fun. I couldn't help feeling in this installment, however, that I almost wished Emily would fall for her lifelong friend Jeremy, I'm getting a little tired of her and Colin making eyes at each other and teasing each other with their overwhelming passion - get on with it, already More...
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Jul 17, 2008
Emma
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This is the third Lady Emily Ashton novel, and this one lives up to the "Novel of Suspense" that is written on the cover. ALthough I have to say I hate that painting and I cannot figure out if the lady is suppossed to be dead? Anyway- in this novel we have another dead body (no one is really sad though, he was an awful man) and a trip to Vienna with hot chocoloate and snow and skating, and questions about Colin's fidelity cause we meet his former ...mistress? Lover? Confidante...? We l
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Jun 21, 2008
Faith
rated it:
I think that Tasha Alexander could write labels for soup cans and make them suspenseful.
Third in (hopefully) a series, this installment finds Lady Emily Ashton searching for the murderer of her arch enemy in order to clear her best friends husband of the crime. There's suspense, a little romance and a whole lot of mystery. The descriptions of late 1800s city life is wonderful as is the dialog. Some of the dialog is a little too cheesey (for lack of a better word) or maybe "campy" More...
Third in (hopefully) a series, this installment finds Lady Emily Ashton searching for the murderer of her arch enemy in order to clear her best friends husband of the crime. There's suspense, a little romance and a whole lot of mystery. The descriptions of late 1800s city life is wonderful as is the dialog. Some of the dialog is a little too cheesey (for lack of a better word) or maybe "campy" More...
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Aug 12, 2008
Kate
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This is the third book featuring Lady Emily Ashton as heroine in this late 1800s murder mystery. Lady Ashton is out to prove that her friend's husband did not kill the man he is accused of killing. For me this book wasn't as great as the first two. It lacked some of the frivolousness that made the first two books so good especially Emily's society/ gossip driven mother who made a very small appearance in this book but was featured more prominently in the other two. I still liked the book and
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Feb 10, 2009
Michelle
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Lady Emily Ashton is at the country home of a man she loathes all for her friend Ivy. Emily bears the taunting of Lord Fortescue and the arrival of someone unexpected... her fiance's former lover, the very sophisticated Kristiana von Lange. As if that was not enough to deal with, Lord Fortescue has the bad manners of being found shot dead. Unfortunately, the prime suspect of the crime is none other than Robert Brandon, her friend Ivy's husband. Determined to discover the truth and save Robert at
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Nov 21, 2008
Kristine
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I have not read the prior two books in the series, so I suspect I missed the character development that went on there. Because of this, I really didn't fall in love with Lady Ashton, and was extremely confused with the cast of characters. My general rule is to avoid books that have lists of characters with descriptions of who they are, because it means I'm not going to care enough about individual characters to remember.
I found the plot wrap up at the end a little disappointing, si More...
I found the plot wrap up at the end a little disappointing, si More...
Nov 13, 2011
Meaghan
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I loved this book! I know I've liked all the books in this series, but this one garned my particular adoration for what Tasha Alexander did with it. Throughout this book I was in absolute agony. You have met Lady Emily and her love, now fiance, Colin. In the first book you found out about Emily's husband and her past with him. Now you find out about Colin's past in the form of one Countess Katarina von Lange. The reason this book was so agonizing was because throughout the book you watch Emily t
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Mar 01, 2011
kari
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I'm not really sure what to think of this book. It is never good as a reader when an author decides to make the hero appear to be something of a cad(to use a Victorian term) and then doesn't bother to explain how he isn't, leaving the reader to think that smart and loving Emily isn't as smart as we've been led to believe. Emily doesn't believe in anyone blindly, at one time thinking her own late husband was capable of a life of crime. But she doesn't question Colin when her own eyes and ears hav
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Sep 30, 2010
Monique
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Well what can I say I WANTED to like this book..honestly for the first seventy five pages I was really into the story..I love the way she went into the whole party, meeting the guests, the slight digs her and Lord Fontescue shared and the idea of a beautiful sophisticated ex at the same party as her and her fiance..I love the descriptions, the time period, even the heroine but by the last hundred or so pages it was kinda unbearable to read. I was lost by the introduction of characters..(see if y
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Apr 25, 2010
Jo (Mixed Book Bag)
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A Fatal Waltz is the third book in the Lady Emily mystery series. The series is set in the late 19th century and the politics of the era are skillfully woven into the books.
Everything starts when Lady Emily is the guest of Lord Fortescue, an influential political figure with many powerful enemies. He objects very strongly to Colin and Emily getting married and is working hard at preventing the wedding. While Colin and Emily are there Lord Fortescue is murdered and Robert, the hu More...
Everything starts when Lady Emily is the guest of Lord Fortescue, an influential political figure with many powerful enemies. He objects very strongly to Colin and Emily getting married and is working hard at preventing the wedding. While Colin and Emily are there Lord Fortescue is murdered and Robert, the hu More...
Apr 09, 2010
Beth
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Book 3 in the Lady Emily Ashton series, and I find that A Poisoned Season is still my favorite of the series.
In this one Emily sets out to save her friend Ivy's husband who has been arrested for murder. In her quest to clear his name she travels to Vienna and finds herself in the midst of politcal drama and social scandals. The action drags a bit in the middle and parts of the investigation are not terribly believable. The fact that she is running around Vienna trying to interview anarchis More...
In this one Emily sets out to save her friend Ivy's husband who has been arrested for murder. In her quest to clear his name she travels to Vienna and finds herself in the midst of politcal drama and social scandals. The action drags a bit in the middle and parts of the investigation are not terribly believable. The fact that she is running around Vienna trying to interview anarchis More...
Mar 24, 2010
kaoyler
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I'm actually a 3 to 3.5 stars on this book. I liked it, but there were several elements that bothered me. Lady Emily goes to a country party to support her friend Ivy, but it's at the home of one of the most powerful men in government who is trying to break up her engagement to Colin. The man is murdered and the husband of Emily's friend is arrested. Fine so far. To help solve the murder Emily goes to Vienna, Austria for clues on who sent a message warning Lord Fortescue someone in governme
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Jul 17, 2009
Wendy
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Sep 05, 2009
Starling
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I'm giving the author 5 stars for growth. I've read the three books currently in this series pretty close together. The last two immediately one after the other. And there is noticeable growth in the author's ability to write a story and plot out the plot.
I found all of the characters interesting and wanted to know more about them in the first book. At this point they seem like old friends.
At least one reviewer mentioned that Emily seems too modern for the period, but in More...
I found all of the characters interesting and wanted to know more about them in the first book. At this point they seem like old friends.
At least one reviewer mentioned that Emily seems too modern for the period, but in More...
Jan 12, 2009
Donna
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At the start of this book, Lady Emily Ashton visits the country home of a powerful man who is notorious for getting what he wants by any means necessary. What he wants at the moment is to break up Emily's engagement. So another of the guests is a woman from Colin's past, and she seems determined to be part of his future. When their host is murdered, the husband of Emily's best friend ends up charged with the crime. Emily wants to prove his innocence, and becomes convinced that there are importan
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Dec 21, 2011
Suzanna
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Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm continuing to read this series. I read the second book first without realizing it when I checked it out from the library, wasn't a huge fan but figured I'd give the first one a try, and I was curious about the references to the previous book's characters & plot. It was a little better, but the third one is the closest I've come to really liking it. Giving A Fatal Waltz 3 stars is stretching it a bit actually, but based on the fact that I was finally surprised by th
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Jul 11, 2008
Ron
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I went to college with the author, so I am somewhat biased in her favor, but this is an excellent historical romance with plenty of suspense elements. This time around, Emily must clear the husband of one of her dearest friends of a classic English country house murder, and the investigation sends her to the anarchist underground of late 19th-century Vienna.. and a delicate battle of wills with the former lover of her fiance...
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Aug 19, 2008
Jennifer
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For some reason, it was more difficult for me to get into this novel than her previous two. The mystery, I felt, wasn't as compelling. Instead, I felt that it was an excuse to send Emily, the protagonist, to Vienna to soak up the intrigue there. Although I enjoyed the atmosphere of the novel, I still felt that the relationships among the characters was a bit more stale. Overall, it was okay, but not my favorite of the series.
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Dec 28, 2011
Taiaja
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I find Lady Ashton and this whole series irritating...but since I started, I feel compelled to finish.
This 3rd one, I think, is the most ridiculous. A lot of the details, character development, and inter-relationships just don't jive. For example, Lady Ashton and Colin's relationship. In my opinion, there isn't any. Colin disappears and reappears at random moments. He tells Emily that he will be in Berlin and randomly bumps into her in Vienna. She never knows where he is and trus More...
This 3rd one, I think, is the most ridiculous. A lot of the details, character development, and inter-relationships just don't jive. For example, Lady Ashton and Colin's relationship. In my opinion, there isn't any. Colin disappears and reappears at random moments. He tells Emily that he will be in Berlin and randomly bumps into her in Vienna. She never knows where he is and trus More...
Jan 09, 2012
Kim
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In A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander, the third novel in the Lady Emily mystery series, we find ourselves again in Victorian England with Lady Emily Ashton. This time, we follow Lady Emily to a house party in the country, hosted by Lord Basil Fortesque. Unfortunately for Lord Fortesque, he winds up dead as the recipient of a bullet from a dueling pistol. Lady Emily sets her mind to discovering who the killer is after the husband of one of her good friends is erroneously implicated as the murde
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Oct 28, 2009
Elizabeth
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I was a little disappointed in this one. Too quickly, Alexander is moving Lady Emily to the center of European political wrangling, which bodes ill for the series. It's one thing to solve multiple society murders, but coming up with world-saving plots over and over is a tough task that has foundered more clever writers. While I know the upper levels of Victorian society were surprisingly interrelated and close knit, the level of coincidence in this story verged on the unbelievable and the inso
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Dec 02, 2008
Kat
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I read both And Only to Deceive and A Poisoned Season. A Fatal Waltz follows in that series, but is better than the first two. Alexander is definitely developing her skills as a writer. I loved the bits in Vienna. The setting was very evocative. The other thing I found amusing about this book is that the plot developments are not based on the mutual mistrust and secretiveness of the male and female protagonists. There was not a single instance of the well-loved plot device: "Oh, the villain
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Nov 04, 2010
SarahC
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I have not read the Lady Emily series up to this point. I plan to reread Book 1 and read Book 2 entirely. However, I can say good things about Book 3, A Fatal Waltz. Emily Ashton is a Victorian English high society girl who has little interest in social engagements and materialism. She investigates crime in these novels of mystery and romantic suspense. Set in 1890s England, Emily and the cast of friends and domestic staff work to clear a friend from a murder charge and also become involved in
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Jul 12, 2009
Alana
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A Fatal Waltz would be the third in the "Lady Emily Ashton" series that Tasha Alexander writes. I read the first book because there was something on the cover about "if Jane Austen wrote mysteries" and my mom bought it for me as a joke. I read the second because a friend's father somehow wound up on the cover recommending it (not exactly his type of literature...). I read the third because, having just finished a dreadful book, I needed something that I knew would be fun.
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Dec 05, 2008
Celia
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Lady Emma Ashton is attending a country party at the estate of Lord Fortescue. She doesn't expect to enjoy this tedious obligation, but the party turns sour when Lord Fortescue is shot, and his political protege, Robert Brandon, is arrested for his murder.
I hadn't read either of the two previous books featuring Lady Emma, which I think would have helped a little in establishing her relationship with Colin and her past. However, I really liked the character, although I found her rel More...
I hadn't read either of the two previous books featuring Lady Emma, which I think would have helped a little in establishing her relationship with Colin and her past. However, I really liked the character, although I found her rel More...
Nov 03, 2011
Lori
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I was on the edge of my seat reading this book... And I blush to say that I didn't give Colin as much faith as Lady Emily did! The Countess had me seeing red every time she was present; I realize that was her purpose and goal. She'd have had an easy time of it with me, if I'd have been Lady Emily!
So far, this is my favorite book in the series -- not that the other 2 weren't quite good. But I felt some calm in knowing that Colin and Emily were engaged, and that despite Lord Fortescue' More...
So far, this is my favorite book in the series -- not that the other 2 weren't quite good. But I felt some calm in knowing that Colin and Emily were engaged, and that despite Lord Fortescue' More...
