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I am upping my 4-star rating to 5 stars.

I re-read this book as a part of the BOTM challenge for HRBC.

Plot Summary
Difficulties are nothing new to Alaric McLeod, the Duke of Strathaven. His latest predicament, however, is proving to be a bigger thorn in his side than he anticipated, in the form of Miss Emma Kent. Falsely accused of murdering his mistress, Alaric is fighting shadows from his past, and his only salvation comes from a bunch of highly eccentric people. Emma's only ambition in life is to become an investigator in her brother's firm, and solving the Duke's case is just the ticket she needs. In this murder mystery, there is a lot to lose and a lot to find, their hearts and themselves, chief amongst them.

My Thoughts
- This was my first Grace Callaway and it was mighty impressive. Her writing style is a smidge modern, but it works wonderfully.
- The plot was engaging and layered, a perfect blend of romance, drama, thriller and steam.
- The book was descriptive without losing its thread, and I admire that greatly as sometimes long-winded musings tend to lean towards becoming out of context.
- The pacing of the story was effective and built to something unexpected. (view spoiler)[Behold, two villains. One guessable, the other not so much. Although, on a re-read, I realized there were hints sprinkled throughout the book. (hide spoiler)]
- The characters were unusual and flawed but the reasons for them being the way they were, were perfect. I loved the fact that no one in this story was a paragon of virtue. There is a certain believable element in broken characters which lent great weight to their development.
- Alaric was amazing. He may have come across as an arrogant ass initially, but as his story is revealed, it makes complete sense. His situation, throughout his life, has been that of "out of the frying pan and into the fire". He has known nothing but abandonment, manipulation and betrayal from his closest people, no wonder he is mistrustful and pushes people away with high handed behaviour. But at the same time, he is honest, caring and oh so sexy. Ms Callaway did justice to a complicated hero.
- Emma annoyed me at the beginning with her managing behaviour and jumping to conclusions. That changed quickly as well. She was a headstrong heroine who was not afraid to admit her mistakes and make the necessary corrections. I admired her dedication to everything (the case, her family and Alaric). She was a perfect match for Alaric. Fighting stubbornness with stubbornness.
- I love steamy HR novels, weirdly enough in this story, the steamy parts came on abruptly. A perfectly rational conversation led to entangled limbs, it felt damned disconcerting. Don't get me wrong, the steamy goodness was delicious, just not seamless.
- The supporting characters were entertaining. I missed reading Ambrose-Marianne and William-Annabell stories, which I plan to rectify soon enough. The villains were interesting as well along with their villainy.
- I loved that the murder/ thriller subplot was built nicely and was given a complete resolution. It was slightly OTT, but all it did was add a dash of the dramatic, so no complaints there.
- One tiny issue I have is the ending, it felt rushed as compared to the pacing of the rest of the story. (view spoiler)[Especially the abruptness of Alaric's declaration of love and the dowager's confessions (hide spoiler)]

Side note - The title is not relevent to the story. I understand the author went with Bond/ Le Carr titles, but in this case the duke knew shockingly little.

My Recommendation
An author and the book, both worth your time and energy. Go ahead and read this series.