The Gilded Age. A wealthy, attractive couple from a respectable family. They appear to have it all - two beautiful children, social status, a beautiful home. Until Bayard Van Duyvil is found murdered at the couple’s Twelfth Night ball, his own jeweled dagger buried in his chest and his wife, Annabelle, is nowhere to be found.

Cue the stranger from England, and the newspapers go crazy. Everyone believes that Annabelle is the killer and that she has fled. Janie Van Duyvil, Bay’s spinster sister, believes that to be false, and goes against her overbearing mother to try and find out the truth, enlisting the help of a journalist to try and find the real killer.

Told in two timelines, past and present, The English Wife takes us on a ride that is part family drama, part murder mystery, and part gothic romance. While it starts a little slow and keeping track of all the characters can be daunting, there are enough twists and turns to keep you interested, not to mention one of the most unexpected resolutions I’ve ever come across.

I’ve never read Lauren Willig before, so I don’t know if The English Wife was her first foray into the genre or not. At times, it felt a little stilted, the writing a little odd. It was hard to keep characters straight, but that worked for me. Trying to figure out exactly who Annabelle was, thinking “OK, got it”, then “maybe not ...” is something I actually enjoyed. The family secrets and intrigue were mind-boggling, yet not overwhelming.

I have to say of all the plot points, I enjoyed Janie’s character the most. Watching her evolve from the shy spinster, cuckolded by her mother and pitied by her scandalous cousin, to an independent woman capable of branching out and bucking social norms was a treat. It was second only to the great comeuppance of her mother (but that’s a spoiler, so SHHH!). Another fascinating thing was the turn-of-the-century American setting. Being non-American, it’s astounding to me just how much those very English attitudes and societal norms were ingrained.

The post-revelation, everyone picking their life up chapter was satisfying and almost hinted at a follow-up. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for it, that’s for sure!