Deadly Scandal by Kate Parker – Guest Post, Review + Giveaway @KateParterBooks

I received this book for free from . This review is voluntary. My opinion is not influenced in any way.

Deadly Scandal on January 14, 2016
Pages: 338
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Olivia Denis is a contented young wife with a carefree life in late 1930’s London. Then her world is shattered with the violent death of her husband, Reggie. The police want to call it a suicide and close the case, but Olivia knows Reggie couldn’t possibly have fired the fatal shot.

Further mysteries surface surrounding her husband’s death. Did the trustworthy Foreign Office employee betray government secrets? Was his murder linked to the death of a German embassy clerk the same night? And who searched their flat?

Her desire for answers and her need to support herself cause her to break away from the pampered life she’s known and take a job. But with the much-needed paycheck as a society reporter for a newspaper comes a secret secondary assignment—one that involves her in the increasingly dangerous world of European politics as the continent slides toward war.

Hi, I’m Olivia Denis.

My first appearance in book form is as a glamorous 25 year old widow in Deadly Scandal. I’ve lived a charmed life, but that has all changed abruptly.

I grew up the privileged only child of a Whitehall Foreign Office official and went to boarding school with the daughters of aristocrats and the fabulously wealthy. This was just as well since my mother died when I was five and my father and I have rubbed together like sandpaper and… sandpaper. We’re abrasive with each other and neither of us gets the upper hand.

After I finished my studies at Cambridge, I moved home as all unmarried girls of my age and class did. Both my father and I were miserable, and I was soon looking for a knight in shining armor to rescue me.

That man was Reggie Denis. Fifteen years my senior, a Foreign Office employee with prospects, quiet, studious, respectable looking, and very kind. He asked, I said yes, and so we began three years of, if not wedded bliss, at least a life we both appreciated.

His salary was sufficient for me to spend my days practicing my drawing and my short story writing. No matter how unsuccessful I was at trying to interest anyone else in my efforts, Reggie was always encouraging. There was enough money for good clothes, if I was judicious in my purchases. And there was always enough money for books and tickets to the opera and time to socialize with friends.

We had a nice flat south of Regent’s Park and north of Oxford Street, centrally located and in a modern building. It had been Reggie’s flat before we married, and if he was dismayed over how I took over when I moved in, he never showed it.

And then one bright autumn morning while I was visiting relatives in Sussex, Reggie’s boss came to tell me he was dead. My charmed life was over.

To learn who killed Reggie and how it changed me, you’ll need to read Deadly Scandal.

Kate Parker has been previously published in the ongoing Victorian Bookshop Mysteries and in the Christmas Revels anthologies. She can be reached at www.KateParkerbooks.com

Deadly Scandal by Kate Parker is the first book in the Deadly Series, a new historical cozy mystery series. I was pulled into this story by a number of things right from the start. The main character, Olivia (Livvy) immediately grabbed my attention & I really liked her. She is smart, stubborn, and determined to do things her own way and be her own woman – something that a lot of women in this time period weren’t doing. The plot throws so many twists and turns right out of the gate. I was continually surprised every chapter with some new revelation. This really kept my interest in the story and made me have to know what was going to happen next. The setting was absolutely perfect for this type of story – the location, the time period, everything. I just adored Deadly Scandal by Kate Parker and I can’t wait to read another in the Deadly Series.

Would you like to win your own autographed copy of Deadly Scandal by Kate Parker? This giveaway is open to US winners only. Enter using the Giveaway Tools widget below. The giveaway will end at 11:59PM EST on 3/16/16. Winner will be randomly selected via Giveaway Tools from all eligible entries and contacted via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond to email notification or a new winner will be selected. Be sure to stop back each day for several daily entry options. Good luck!

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