And Only to Deceive

Tasha Alexander's And Only to Deceive starts with a setup the historical-mystery genre has used many times and Alexander handles particularly well: a young Victorian widow, conventionally bored by her marriage, begins to investigate her late husband's passions after his death and discovers she is falling in love with the man she barely knew while he was alive.

The hook in this case is Greek antiquities. Philip Ashton turns out to have been a serious classicist, possibly involved in an antiquities-smuggling ring, possibly murdered. Lady Emily teaches herself Greek and starts asking questions in London and Paris and Santorini, and the book is most alive when she is in a museum reading room or an archaeologist's living room.

Some of the romance plotting is conventional. The investigation is the strongest part. Four stars. Series rewards reading in order and Alexander's writing tightens up over the next few books.