Murder in Drury Lane — Vanessa Riley

Bringing a vibrant edge and welcome diversity to the Regency genre, this exciting historical mystery from award-winning author Vanessa Riley features an engaging heroine with an independent streak, a notorious past, and a decided talent for sleuthing . . .

Pressed into a union of convenience, Lady Abigail Worthing's marriage to an absent lord does at least provide some comforts, including a box at the Drury Lane Theatre, owned by the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Abigail has always found respite there, away from the ton's judgmental stares, the risks of her own secret work to help the cause of abolition -- and her fears that someone from her past wants her permanently silenced. But on one particular evening everything collides, and the performance takes an unwelcome turn . . .
 
Onstage, a woman emits a scream of genuine terror. A man has been found dead in the prop room, stabbed through the heart. The magistrate, keen to avoid bringing more attention to the case and making Lady Worthing more of a target, asks Abigail not to investigate. But of course, she cannot resist . . .
 
Abigail soon discovers a tangled drama that rivals anything brought to the stage, involving gambling debts, an actress with a parade of suitors, and the very future of the Drury Lane Theatre. For Abigail the case is complicated further, for one suspect is a leading advocate for the cause dearest to her heart -- the abolition of slavery within the British Empire. Uncovering the truth always comes at a price. But this time, it may be far higher than she wishes to pay.