Dannie H. reviewed on 2/6/2017

"Cut to the Quick"is a well written mystery. The first book in a series, it features Julian Kestrel, a Regency dandy, as the detective. When a young woman is found dead in his bed while he is visiting a friend, his servant, Dipper is suspected of having killed the woman, who seems to be unknown to all the house's inhabitants. Believing Dipper to be innocent, and knowing that having a non-family member convicted of the crime would please everyone, Kestrel forces his host to allow him to investigate. His host, who is also the local magistrate, would prefer Kestrel kept out of it, but can't deny that investigating his own family is a conflict of interest.
I don't like contrivances in murder mysteries, and here there are only two. The first one is completely necessary, because without it Kestrel wouldn't be in the house, so it's forgivable. the second contrivance, however, while necessary to tie up all loose ends, is too strained. Despite that, the book was well worth reading.

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