Deadly Affair: A Georgian Historical Mystery

Autumn 1763. Career diplomat Alec Halsey has been elevated to a marquessate he doesn't want and Polite Society believes he doesn't deserve. And with the suspicion he murdered his brother still lingering in London drawing rooms, returning to London after seven months in seclusion might well be a mistake. So when a nobody vicar drops dead beside him at a party-political dinner, and his rabble-rousing uncle Plantagenet is bashed and left for dead in a laneway, Alec’s foreboding deepens. Uncovering the vicar's true identity, Alec suspects the man was poisoned. But who would want a seemingly harmless man of God murdered, and why?
AWARDS
Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year Finalist

DETAILS
Series: Book 2 in the Alec Halsey Mystery series
Classification: Parental Guidance Recommended (mild violence)
Length: Full-length novel (114,000 words, about 450 standard printed pages)
Edition: Revised, re-edited, and re-covered in 2015
Style: Character-driven amateur sleuth

CONNECTING BOOKS
Many readers enjoy Lucinda Brant's books as part of a wider series since her characters inhabit the same meticulously-researched 18th Century world with people and events cross-referenced throughout. You can explore the details and delve deeper into the history within each book by visiting LucindaBrantAuthor on Pinterest. Should you wish to read each series in chronological order, here is the sequence:

Alec Halsey Mystery Series
Spring 1763 DEADLY ENGAGEMENT (Country house murder and mayhem)
Autumn 1763 DEADLY AFFAIR (A poisoned vicar and the mysterious Miranda)
Winter 1763 DEADLY PERIL (Bloody intrigue abroad) In progress
Summer 1764 DEADLY KIN (Evil lurks in Edinburgh) In progress

Salt Hendon Series
1763 SALT BRIDE (Magnus and Jane)
1767 SALT REDUX (Antony and Caroline)
1767 A FAIRY CHRISTMAS (Kitty and Tom); a short story in SILVER BELLS COLLECTION, a Timeless Romance anthology

Roxton Family Saga
1740s NOBLE SATYR (Renard and Antonia)
1760s MIDNIGHT MARRIAGE (Julian and Deb)
1770s AUTUMN DUCHESS (Antonia and Jonathon)
1770s DAIR DEVIL (Dair and Rory)
1770s PROUD MARY (Mary and Christopher) In progress
1780s SATYR’S SON (Henri-Antoine and Lisa) In progress

REVIEWS
"Descriptions are so vivid I felt as if I were there, experiencing the sights and sounds of Georgian London. Lucinda Brant gets five stars from me, and I can't wait to read the other books in the Alec Halsey series” — Anne Boling, Readers’ Favorite

“Lucinda Brant has a beautiful writing style and a careful grasp on the social mores, political environment and tangled affairs of the aristocracy of Georgian England. Her characterizations are layered and complex. The mystery is intricately woven into an absorbing plot. Lucinda Brant is a gifted writer and Deadly Affair is highly and enthusiastically recommended for lovers of historical mysteries! " — Jill MacKenzie, InD'Tale magazine