Mystery is rife and so are the laughs when a crew of quirky characters set out to solve a slew of crimes causing havoc in Regency London’s Jewish community. Lady Marblehead is not pleased. In fact, she’s furious. Not only is someone trying to poison her, but the impertinent scoundrel is after her jewels too. All the clues seem to point to her new doctor, a young Jewish man recently arrived in London. But is he really the one responsible? Or is there some darker, more malevolent force at work? In this first book in the Jewish Regency Mystery Series, it’s up to wealthy-widower-turned-sleuth Mr. Ezra Melamed to find the culprit — before the poisoner strikes again. The Regency detective fiction of author Libi Astaire is great fun. Set in London during the Napoleonic Wars, Astaire creates the Jewish community, observant, aware of their precarious status in Great Britain, and totally in sync with the fashions, manners and mores of the Regency period. [They] ... are for anyone who loves Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, or who enjoys cleverly plotted mysteries dressed in period costumes. -- Kansas City Jewish Chronicle Oh for the days of yore when a mystery was challenging, sophisticated, and literary; when echoes of history resounded as the pages quietly rustled. Well, rejoice, mystery lovers, this young adult to adult detective tale, British to the bone, is redolent of Jane and her drawing room, Sherlock and his irregulars, Agatha and her sleuths, Oliver and his orphans, Napoleon and his armies, and maybe a touch of blood libel for good measure. ... Ages 12 and up will love this one. -- Jewish Book Council Libi Astaire is an award-winning author who often writes about Jewish history. Her first book about Regency London's Jewish community, The Disappearing Dowry, was named a 2010 Sydney Taylor Notable Book. This led to the Jewish Regency Mystery Series, which includes the full-length mysteries Tempest in the Tea Room, The Moon Taker, and The Doppelganger's Dance , as well as the novellas Too Many Coins and General Well'ngone In Love . She is also the author of The Banished Heart, a novel about Shakespeare's writing of The Merchant of Venice; Terra Incognita, a novel about Spanish villagers who discover they are descended from Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages; several ebooks of retellings of Chassidic tales; and Day Trips to Jewish History , a collection of essays about lesser known people and places in Jewish history. Her own journey has taken her from Kansas, where she grew up, to Jerusalem, where she now lives. Used Book in Good Condition