Review of "And only to deceive" by Tasha Alexander - a young widow delves into her late husband's past while studying the ancient Greeks

Emily is a very young widow in the Victorian era. She is supposed to be in mourning shut away from society for 2 years. The problem is she is not mourning. She married her husband to get away from her domineering mother and although she liked him in her bed it is not that she was in love with him. She hardly knew him. Right after their honeymoon he left for a safari never to return.

Bored out of her brains she starts to read his diaries and discovers he was quite an interesting man who loved the old Greeks. First that triggers Emily to visit the museum and to study the language but while learning more about her dead husband she falls in love with the man. The man who is dead. The man she more or less ignored. She falls in a deep depression of loneliness and regret. If you ever had a broken heart this story will bring back those feelings.

But what about his friend who said he was there when he died and despises another friend of her husband? Is her husband dead or is her not? And if he is dead was he murdered? What about that guy who is such good company?

While in a whirlwind of emotions Emily also learns a lot about antiquities, forgery and more. And we do while reading the novel. Reading the Iliad and strolling from one room to the other in the British Museum.

The book is full of interesting information. I was visiting an expo about ancient Cyprus and noticed a statue of the same artist mentioned in the novel. And the vases with red or black people on them.

I can really recommend it. Definitely not a daft Victorian romance but a very layered combination of detective and coming of age story.




A later book in the series you can find here http://www.dutchysbookreviewsandfreebooks.com/2020/02/istanbul-murder-mystery-tears-of-pearl.html