The inquisitive Miss Dido Kent returns in A Place of Confinement to elucidate the mysterious disappearance of a young woman in the fourth installment of Anna Dean's charming Regency era series The dependably sharp Miss Dido Kent is suffering her sister-in-law's attempts to marry her off to the ghastly clergyman Doctor Prowdlee. Dido, however, is determined to refuse him, as well as his abominable side whiskers. As punishment she is sent to accompany her hypochondriac―and quite wealthy―Aunt Manners on a trip to Charcombe Manor. The family hopes that revisiting her childhood home will keep Aunt Manners in good spirits, and Dido in her good graces. However, upon their arrival it's clear to Dido that there is much more at stake than her aunt's favor. The rich heiress Letitia Verney has disappeared while visiting Charcombe, and Mr. Tom Lomax is suspected of abducting her. Dido is inclined to believe in his innocence, but how is she to explain by what method a young lady could enter through the front door and not appear on the other side? And this isn't the only enigma that the Elizabethan manor holds: there is a deserted wing in which lights mysteriously appear at night, a crying ghost which keeps visitors awake, and memories of old family quarrels. When the senior Mr. Lomax comes to town to defend his son, the mystery intensifies―and so does Dido's romantic life. With lives and reputations on the line, it's up to Dido to put the pieces together to save the Lomaxes and find the vanished young Miss Verney. In this captivating fourth installment of the Dido Kent series, readers will find more of the rich characters, meticulous historical detail, and masterful suspense they've come to expect from Anna Dean. In April 1807, Miss Dido Kent, a spinster almost past marriageable age and with no fortune, is compelled to accompany her Aunt Manners on a visit to Charcombe Manor. In letters to her sister Eliza, interspersed through the narrative, Dido probes one mystery after another. Why—and how—has Miss Letitia Verney, an heiress, disappeared from the estate? Why has Aunt Manners not been to the Elizabethan country home belonging to her brother, George Fenstanton, for 30 years? And why is Miss Gibbs, Letitia’s companion, the only one hearing the ghostly sounds at night? Then the gathering is drawn into the murder of Mr. Brodie, who had just traveled from the Caribbean, perhaps with a letter from Letitia’s father about Letitia’s engagement to Tom Lomax, the prime suspect. Convinced of Tom’s innocence and wanting help in finding Letitia, Dido begins a round of purposeful conversations with the others living at the manor, trying to piece the puzzle together. This fourth in the series will be popular with lovers of historical fiction as it combines a good mystery with gentle probings into societal norms during the Regency period. --Karen Muller “Dean lays out a complex but never confusing plot. And it's not only the storyline that lifts this novel to a high plane; Dean's prose -- intentionally reminiscent of that of Jane Austen -- and her mastery of period detail combine with Dido's amiability to create another shining example of the historical mystery.” ― Richmond Times-Dispatch “The fourth in this excellent series, beautifully written in the style of Jane Austen, will leave even die-hard mystery mavens puzzled until the final chapters.” ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A clever, crafty lady with unending determination to do what is right, Dido Kent deserves a spot alongside Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple in the great sleuth pantheon… Plus? The actual whodunit portion of this novel is superb, surprising, and satisfying!” ― Library Journal (starred review) “In Dean's highly entertaining fourth Regency mystery…The solution is as clever as the rest of the plot.” ― Publishers Weekly (starred review) “This entertaining series set in 1805...is historical mystery at its most effective....If you are looking for a quality historical crime series to get stuck into, then you have just found it.” ― Historical Novels Review “There is something delightfully gothic about Ms. Dean's tales of Dido Kent and her investigations...A very well rounded novel that Jane Austen herself might have enjoyed, not to mention Georgette Heyer...Highly recommended.” ― My Shelf “A clever regency sleuth much like Jane Austen with her ability to see that the mundane things of life are more important than they seem.” ― Kirkus Reviews (starred) on A Woman of Consequence “With its unusually fine sense of time and place, this third Dido Kent entry makes a charming addition to Dean's Regency mystery series.” ― Booklist on A Woman of Consequence “Dean smoothly integrates a wealth of historical detail . . . Well-drawn secondary characters . . . lend color.” ― Publishers Weekly on A Woman of Consequence “Dean has again scored highly with an imaginative mystery that captures Regency England . . . with Austen-like prose.” ― Richmond Times-Dispatch on A Woman of Conse