Kindle Price:	$2.99
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Promotions apply when you purchase

Add an

audiobook with Audible narration for $7.49

Audiobook Price: $21.83

Save: $14.34 (66%)

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Jane describes her book.Book Chat Live

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Jane Steen

Follow

Lady Odelia's Secret: Book Two of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries (Lady Helena Investigates) Kindle Edition

by Jane Steen (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

1,206

Book 2 of 3: The Scott-De Quincy Mysteries

Best Price in 30 Days

See all formats and editions

Do you ever really know your family?

In the 1880s a sixth daughter learns not to ask for much, even if she’s the daughter of an earl. Even if she married the richest man in her corner of Sussex. Even if she’s now a widow with a splendid Georgian mansion.

Lady Helena Whitcombe is still trying to adjust to widowhood and reconcile her family loyalties with her desires when her artist sister Odelia makes a startling suggestion. Why not make her mark on the house that’s now all hers, by commissioning a magnificent work of art from one of London’s most celebrated painters?

Lady Odelia invites Helena into the seductive world of medieval fantasies and fairy tales she has inhabited since Helena was a child. But when a shocking series of events exposes the destructive reality of a great artist’s unusual lifestyle, Helena and her lady’s maid Guttridge are called on to help—or is it to interfere?

Looming danger, the risk of scandal, and competing loyalties force Helena to re-evaluate her relationship with the sister she’s always loved the most.

What is Lady Odelia’s secret? Find out in this gripping continuation of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries, a story that blends mystery and historical detail with Downton Abbey-style saga as the truths about Helena’s aristocratic family unfold. Read it now before the secret gets out!

Book 2 of 3

The Scott-De Quincy Mysteries
Print length

432 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

March 7, 2022
File size

2869 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Report an issue with this product or seller

Next 2 for you in this series See full series

Total Price: $8.98

By clicking on the above button, you agree to Amazon's Kindle Store Terms of Use

More like Lady Odelia's Secret: Book Two of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries (Lady Helena Investigates)

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

1
Lady Helena Investigates: Book One of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries
4,888
Kindle Edition
$0.00
2
Lady Odelia's Secret: Book Two of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries (Lady Helena Investigates)
1,206
Kindle Edition
$2.99
3
Lady Ambition's Dilemma: Book Three of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries (Lady Helena Investigates)
77
Kindle Edition
$5.99
The Scott-De Quincy Mysteries3 book series

Loading...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jane Steen grew up in England but lived in Belgium and the United States as an adult, before returning to the UK in 2016. Her corporate writing career included translation, editorial guidance for lawyers, contract drafting, writing fundraising appeals, marketing for realtors, and freelancing as a communications consultant. Jane is an independent writer of historical fiction, concentrating on the Victorian mystery sub-genre. She is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, the Historical Novel Society, Novelists, Inc., and the Society of Authors. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09RWW546Z
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aspidistra Press (March 7, 2022)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 7, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2869 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 432 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #15,825 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #44 in Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction
- #118 in Historical Mysteries (Kindle Store)
- #139 in Historical Mystery

Customer Reviews:
1,206

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Jane Steen

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

The most important fact you need to know about Jane Steen is that she was named after Jane Eyre, which to this day remains one of her favorite books. She was clearly doomed to love all things Victorian, and ended up studying both English and French nineteenth-century writers in depth.

This was a pretty good grounding for launching herself into writing novels set in the nineteenth century. Jane was living in the Chicago suburbs when she began writing the House of Closed Doors series, inspired by a photograph of the long-vanished County Poor Farm in her area.

Now back in her native England, Jane lives in an idyllic ancient town in sight of the sea. This location has sparked a new series about an aristocratic family with more secrets than most: The Scott-De Quincy Mysteries.

Jane writes for readers who love a series you can’t put down. She blends saga, mystery, adventure, and a touch of romance, set against the background of the real-life issues facing women in the late nineteenth century.

Jane is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, the Historical Novel Society, Novelists, Inc., and the Society of Authors.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

1,206 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Redlila

Brilliant!

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2023

Verified Purchase

A captivating sequel to Lady Helena Investigates.
Steen sets her scenes with such interesting details I feel as if I am there in the novel. This, to me, is the trademark of a true talent.
Her characters, as well, are described clearly and continually as the story unfolds. Readers live in the era of the Victorian times, learning much of the complex rules of acceptable behavior and social requirements of upper, middle and lower classes of the time. Fascinating and so wildly different from today.
I will be reading more of Steen's books!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Sarah Neville

Very good plotting.

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2022

Verified Purchase

I can’t say too much about why I loved the plotting of this book without spoiling the story, but I really enjoyed it. It was so refreshing to have a mystery where there isn’t a dead body being tripped over every few pages. I kept expecting murder mystery cliches to pop up, but they never did.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

A G

Murder - Lady Investigates

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2023

Verified Purchase

This story was again fun to read and enjoyable to watch characters develop. I wish we had a bit more romance, but alas...
The family ties and the challenging decisions were well developed
Highly recommend reading the first book before this one.
Romance level: kisses but themes of adultery.
Trigger warning: abortion, cancer, adultery.

Helpful

Holly AW

If you love tales set in Victorian England...

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

...you'll enjoy this book! Ms. Steen gives the reader wonderful details of life for the wealthy during that time. Lady Helena is a character well fleshed out, as are her sister Odelia and other characters in the book. Odelia is Lady Helena's sister who is caught in a scandal. Helena is her crafty best in this novel trying to save her sister's reputation and of course, solve a mystery! The mystery unfolds at a leisurely pace, so enjoy the rich descriptions of life in Victorian upper crust England. The story is complete, and you don't have to read the first book in the series to enjoy this second tale. Two thumbs up from this reader!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

OLT

More Scott-DeQuincy family secrets.

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2022

Verified Purchase

(3.5 stars) The first book of this Scott-DeQuincy Mysteries series came out in 2018, so we've had quite the wait for this second one. Worth the wait? Yes, in many respects, but not overwhelmingly so.

As with the first book, the murder mystery of this second one takes a back seat to all the personal relationships and family drama. That's not a bad thing because Steen does such a good job with the dynamics of the Scott-DeQuincy family, but if you're in this for a murder to solve, that doesn't even happen until about the last quarter of the book. There's some petty crime beforehand (vandalism and threatening letters) and a lot of sexual peccadilloes on the part of several characters, but mostly we are taken on a journey into the lives of many people, both the family members and their acquaintances.

Except for infidelity on a rather grand scale, there isn't much to shock you here, especially if you had read the first book, which was replete with secrets of infidelity, murder, and even incest. This second one is tame by comparison, I guess, but interesting in its own right.

It's the relationships that make this worth the read. And the inroads Lady Helena is making in her personal growth and independence. My particular favorite relationships here: (1) Helena/Odelia, sisters with a loving bond but a 10-year age difference. This loving bond is put to the test when Odelia's secrets come out. (2) Lady Helena/Guttridge, her lady's maid. This was a bit of a cliched relationship but fun nonetheless. Guttridge is an excellent partner in crime solving with lots of initiative and a total lack of subservience. (3) The whole rather dysfunctional Scott-DeQuincy bunch all relating to each other. There's love there, I'm sure, but in some cases it's hard to discern. (4) Last and least, for me is the widowed Helena's interactions with her love interest, French physician Fortier. We learn a little more about his background but the romance itself is quite bland and lacks any spark. With so much baggage in his life, one wonders if they will ever get together, even with five more books to get it all sorted out, but, also, unfortunately, the chemistry between the two doesn't make one care much either way.

The book is slow and bogged down for me in parts, but it is interesting in its presentation of the art world in the 1880s and a woman's place in it, with struggles to be creative without losing one's image of "virtuousness". A struggle that usually failed.

27 people found this helpful

Helpful

mc

A delightful read!

Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2023

Verified Purchase

A great sequel! The book is quite long so I felt as if I had two books in one...it was great! I love the descriptive passages about lifestyle, etiquette, social conditions in general as well as between staff and gentry. It's a lively tale with intrigue, mystery, amusing tidbits.....all in all......highly recommend this book. I also truly appreciate that this cozy mystery/period piece gives you so much enjoyment without having to bypass graphic details that are so common these days. Kudos to the author for a brilliant story. I'm looking forward to the next in the series! Do add this book to your reading list today! You'll be so glad you did!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Chuck Brider

Lady Odelia's Secret

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2024

Verified Purchase

I found much of the book tedious. There were too many scenes that were repeated. The trial at the end was completely unnecessary.

Helpful

Lovestoread

Lady Helena Investigates

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2024

Verified Purchase

This book #2 in the series is also not for the faint of heart. Lady Helena does track down and investigates the horrors that her sister, Lady Odelia is going through. I admire the fact that Lady Helena is forever faithful to love and support her sister no matter what she has done or how she has lived. We also thank the Lord for His forgiveness when we truly repent.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer I'ma Real Person :)

Best Read!!

Reviewed in Canada on November 4, 2023

Verified Purchase

Excellent writer.....loved these books! Couldn't put them down.....I seldom reread books but these are 2 that i certainly will!! Very soon!!!

Kindle Customer

Really good read.😁

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2024

Verified Purchase

Recent history not my normal reading but plenty of twists and turns and background information to help keep the intrigues going.

JDLG

A wonderful multi-layered book

Reviewed in France on April 17, 2023

Verified Purchase

I loved Lady Odelia's Secret.

It is a good long book (so many today seem to be barely 200 pages!)... which gives the time to really allow both the plot and the characters to develop.

The book is detailed and very well written, it draws you in and makes you want to keep turning the pages as you fall into the world of Lady Helena and her family.

It is the second in the series - I very much enjoyed Lady Helena Investigates also (even if it wasn't really a mystery). In this book I felt that the author is getting to know her characters more and more.

And this time round there is in the end a mystery to solve.

Aside from the plot, I enjoyed the insights into life in the Victorian age.

The mystery itself appears slowly, and builds up till the end. But that is part of the charm. We are drawn into the story and the characters, and then slowly into that start to fall the first signs of a problem.

The book is written a bit in the same way that that the artist in the story describes the process of the creation of monumental paintings he is doing: Creating the actual frame ( the foundation)... stretching the canvas and making sure it is taut (a good solid base to the book, the characters, the places)... adding the layers of background and the first details (the broad information that that tightens as the story develops)... going on with the further details and finishing (to the final full beauty of the story as all pieces fall into place)..

... and like all good paintings, this book makes me want to see more by the artist (author)!

Marg Clark

Murder, Mysteries

Reviewed in Australia on November 18, 2023

Verified Purchase

Riveting story with so many twists and turns. Mistresses, artists, parties, ending in murder. A great read & highly recommended. After reading the first in the series I just had to buy the second book.

TMM

An excellent book 2

Reviewed in Canada on May 25, 2022

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this second book of Lady Helena. We really see her character change as she takes more charge of her life and becomes more confident.
We get to know much more about Helena’s family members, many of whom are fully developed in their character. I enjoy that Steen has made them all different from each other and that there are several unique characters…such as the twins, Blanche, Odelia and Lord Broadmore. I enjoy the interaction between Julia and George quite a lot and Ned is a wonderful character whom I hope to see more of in future books.
The mystery was well done and in fact it surprised me a bit by escalating quickly.
I really wish that she and Fortier were free to be with each other as they clearly love each other. I hope Fortier is able to resolve his personal situation. As much as I enjoy the mystery part, I really want the romantic plot to develop and be happily resolved.
I don’t think it’s necessary to have read book 1 in order to make sense of this book but it is a good book also so don’t deprive yourself!

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

Lady Odelia's Secret: Book Two of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries (Lady Helena Investigates) Kindle Edition

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

Videos for this product

Jane describes her book.

About the author

Jane Steen

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries