Week 51 Review: The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin

From Goodreads:

In Regency England, the eccentric Colebrook sisters are amateur detectives who use their wits and invisibility as "old maids" to fight injustice in this delightful and fiercely feminist novel of mystery and adventure from New York Times bestselling author Alison Goodman.

To most of Regency high society, forty-two-year-old Lady Augusta Colebrook, or Gus, and her twin sister, Julia, are just unmarried ladies of a certain age—hardly worth a second glance. But the Colebrook twins are far from useless old maids. They are secretly protecting women and children ignored by society and the law.

When Lord Evan—a charming escaped convict who has won Gus's heart—needs to hide his sister and her lover from their vindictive brother, Gus and Julia take the two women into their home. They know what it is like to have a powerful and overbearing brother. But Lord Evan's complicated past puts them all in danger. Gus knows they must clear his name of murder if he is to survive the thieftakers who hunt him. But it is no easy task—the fatal duel was twenty years ago and a key witness is nowhere to be found.                    

In a deadly cat-and-mouse game, Gus, Julia, and Lord Evan must dodge their pursuers and investigate Lord Evan's past. They will be thrust into the ugly underworld of Georgian gentlemen's clubs, spies, and ruthless bounty hunters, not to mention the everyday threat of narrow-minded brothers. Will the truth be found in time, or will the dangerous secrets from the past destroy family bonds and rip new love and lives apart?

My Review:
I had such a great time reading this book! I really enjoy Alison Goodman's writing, and the first book was excellent, and I was excited to be back with these characters as they tacked another mystery! Watching as they tried to find a way to prove his innocence, loved it! This story about these middle-aged unmarried women in a time when that wasn't an easy position to be in, I just love it! 

Finding out what had happened 20 years ago, that's not an easy task, when life was much harder, and what a modern day society would have to find people, doesn't exist. But once they were put on the path of this club, well, the pieces starting falling into place. I feel fairly satisfied with how it was resolved though not fully, there was an element of, there's basically no way forward that's satisfying for everyone, given the particulars of this case. 

One of the big things that they had to deal with was Lord Evan's sister, who isn't recovered from her time locked away, and is hard to move. But that their other brother, who holds the title, wants to keep her away from her love, to lock her away again? That he's her legal guardian and has the legal right to do that to her? That was hard for them to deal with. But oh, I loved the solutions that they came up with, and what happened because of that!

Family was a big thing in this book, because besides Lord Evan's family, there was also Gus and Julia's family. That their brother was like that, and was expecting Gus to apologize for missing his wedding? Urgh, that was so annoying, and I'm glad for what ending up happening in that situation. 

The romance was strong in this one. The first book really introduced us to these characters, and why we should care about them, and now that we do, their bonds were really strengthened, and I'm glad for it, given where we left them, and what they were planning on doing! 

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait for book 3! 

Author: Alison Goodman
Series: The Ill-Mannered Ladies #2
Read: December 20th, 2024 
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and it's a Historical Fiction 2024 Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2024 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Berkley 
Expected Publication: May 6th 2025

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars