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56th out of 738 books
—
1,615 voters
A Fatal Waltz (Lady Emily #3)
by
Tasha Alexander (Goodreads Author)
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 finds as odious as he is powerful. But if Emily is expecting Lord Fortescue to be the greatest of her problems, she is wrong. Her host has also invited Kristiana von Lange, an Austrian countess who was once linked romantically with Emi...more
Hardcover, 294 pages
Published
May 20th 2008
by William Morrow & Company
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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 shares his talent...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 shares his talent...more
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...more
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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 dramatically. The politically powerful Lord...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 dramatically. The politically powerful Lord...more
1 like · like · see review
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 the...more
Jun 22, 2008
Susan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Historical mystery buffs, fans of Elizabeth Peters
Recommended to Susan by:
Amazon
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! Stop angst...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! Stop angst...more
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 learn more...more
1 like · like · see review
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". But honestly,...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". But honestly,...more
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 I l...more
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...more
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, since there was...more
I found the plot wrap up at the end a little disappointing, since there was...more
To save some typing time - a recap of some of what I said for book 2 and then additional comments.
What can I say but I'm in love with these books!
Typically I'm all for regency, not so interested in Victorian. Also, not big on mysteries. There are a couple of authors I read but....
These are suspense - so maybe a little lighter on the mystery and more of the rest of their life - but still the mystery exists.
Book three - another mystery but this one hits a lot closer to home - Emily and her guy (wh...more
What can I say but I'm in love with these books!
Typically I'm all for regency, not so interested in Victorian. Also, not big on mysteries. There are a couple of authors I read but....
These are suspense - so maybe a little lighter on the mystery and more of the rest of their life - but still the mystery exists.
Book three - another mystery but this one hits a lot closer to home - Emily and her guy (wh...more
The Lady Emily Books are well done popcorn books - which is how I tend to describe a fun, quick read. Tasha Alexander takes care with her history. She tweaks what is necessary for the story, of course, but it's obvious she's done her homework. I adore the characters of Lady Emily and Colin. I appreciate how Alexander chose not to artificially drag the "will they or won't they out" forever. And, while it occasionally make Emily a frustrating character, I truly appreciate that Alexander has taken...more
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...more
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...more
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...more
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 husband of Emily’s...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 husband of Emily’s...more
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 anarchists and...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 anarchists and...more
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 government wo...more
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I would have rated this two stars if not for the compelling continuation of the story of Emily and Collin. They continue to be modern and enlightened for a pair of lovers in Victorian times, though Collin still seems desperate to protect Emily's virtue when their passion threatens to consume them.
The rest of the story seems to drone on and on with lots of exposition on the back-story of what eventually led to WW1. A little goes along way though a look at life in Vienna in the Victorian age is i...more
The rest of the story seems to drone on and on with lots of exposition on the back-story of what eventually led to WW1. A little goes along way though a look at life in Vienna in the Victorian age is i...more
Apr 14, 2012
Babs
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery,
mystery-historical
I am thoroughly enjoying this series. I love the feisty, independent heroine, Lady Emily Ashton, ahead of her time in the Victorian age, and her oh so “perfect” man, Colin Hargreaves, who is apparently some type of “secret agent” for the Queen (Victoria). Far-fetched; sure – outlandish; maybe. I don’t care. I really am engrossed in this series and am still looking forward to the next book.
I was a bit distressed in this book to find that Colin had an earlier passion and love, other than Lady Emil...more
I was a bit distressed in this book to find that Colin had an earlier passion and love, other than Lady Emil...more
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 fact the 1890s was the t...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 fact the 1890s was the t...more
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...more
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 b...more
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...
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.
Lady Emily Ashton has been invited to a house party hosted by the nasty Lord Fortescue. The man makes no bones about the fact that he does not like Emily and he is going to try his hardest to make sure that she and her fiance, Colin, never actually get married.
Normally, she wouldn't be at the party but her friend Ivy asked Emily to come. Ivy's husband, Robert, is Lord Fortescue's political protege and Ivy wants some backup.
It's a dreary party and includes Colin's former flame, a woman who is rea...more
Normally, she wouldn't be at the party but her friend Ivy asked Emily to come. Ivy's husband, Robert, is Lord Fortescue's political protege and Ivy wants some backup.
It's a dreary party and includes Colin's former flame, a woman who is rea...more
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 trusts him when he i...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 trusts him when he i...more
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 murderer...more
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 insouc...more
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Tasha Alexander is the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Emily series and the novel ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE. She attended the University of Notre Dame, where she studied English and Medieval History. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, divide their time between Chicago an...more
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