Widowed Arabella Mason's brother-in-law, the land steward of Peter Worsley's father, has just died after an apparent fall from a church roof and she has come to advise the Earl of the misfortune. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the man in question was not a land steward but rather Peter's older brother and heir to the Earldom who has been living a secret life as a bigamist (and was afraid of heights). Peter quickly sets off to identify the body, meet his other sister-in-law and only nephew as well as find out what happened to his brother who would never have voluntarily gone onto a roof.
To avoid scandal and allow him to ask questions around the village he poses as Arabella's long lost brother, which works well until her brother actual does turn up. Add into the mix a determined suitor who won't take no for an answer, some strange goings on at the factory Arabella inherited from her late husband and Peter's legal sister-in-law who has decided she wants to remain the wife of the heir no matter what.
After meeting Peter Worsley in books one and two of the trilogy I was expecting something a little different. He has been described as someone who doesn't want the title and has made a life for himself as a politician with personal preference that are a little on the wild side. The desire not to inherit is apparent and the skills of a politician come out occasionally, but the willingness to experiment and push the envelope in his private life is lacking and of all the books I was expecting more of that here.
We are told a little bit about how Nicholas is getting on and briefly meet Severus again but otherwise this doesn't have the feeling of interaction between the three friends which I have come to expect from this series. Despite this it is a good book and worth it for those who enjoy a Georgian romance. You don't have to read the other two books in the trilogy to enjoy this.
