[NOVEL] A Whisper at Midnight by Darcy Burke

Private investigator Matilda Wren’s new client is a woman seeking evidence to divorce her husband. She is also the former fiancée of her last client—and dear friend—Lord Ravenhurst. Though he has enthusiastically offered to aid Tilda with future investigations, she can’t very well accept his help in this matter. Especially when her client’s husband is murdered, and Ravenhurst is a suspect.

Hadrian Becket, Earl of Ravenhurst has never felt more alive than when he was solving a mystery with Miss Wren, even when suffering headaches from using his newly acquired ability to touch an object and see a person’s memories. He wants nothing more than to continue their professional association as well as deepen their friendship. Except now he must prove he isn’t guilty of murder, even if that includes working against his former partner.

Tilda can’t believe Hadrian is capable of harming anyone, but how well does she know him? She must rely on her intellect and investigative skill—and not allow her affinity for him to cloud her judgment. When the killer strikes again, Tilda sees that the danger is not to their friendship after all, but to their very existence.

Raven & Wren. Book 2

I can't even emphasize you enough how bored I was. I livened up only at the last 15% and I'm surprised by my own tenacity to reach that far.

The biggest problem of this book is - being stuck in one place.

It felt like the plot isn't going anywhere for a long time. The same as our main characters feels like they haven't moved much with their investigation.

Picture this. Tilda is investigating for a divorce case, target is Hadrian's former fiancée. Hadrian received a note from her (her name is Mrs Beryl Chamber), quite desperate call for help.

But the day they ought to meet they find police and Mr Chamber ...dead in his chambers.

Pun intended.

There are several suspects, for some reason Ravenhurst is one of them just because his former fiancee left him for the murdered man and this man was openly hostile towards him. The others are obviously his wife and a bunch of unknown people we need to call upon to investigate.

Hadrian once again hires Tilda to clear his name, but his desire is more to be together, to conduct investigation together and also help Tilda in her endeavors (financially).

And funnily enough, even if they kinda go around and ask people but there are few instances that got on my nerves:

1. Repetitive mentioning of what happened in the first book. Not constructive to plot development. I believe those who picked it up actually know the content of the first book (either they don't care). I really hope their memory is not that short like that of a fish.
2. I even left notes while reading when I came across scenes where Tilda asked about things she already knows. The most glaring example to me was when they talked about Padgett, investigator who closed Hadrian's case and she is asking - is it that inspector who investigated your stabbing case? Girl, you know about him! There are many instances when she acts as if she hears it for the first time.
3. Repetitive actions over and over again. To give an example, they need to visit a home where former maid resided (the one who was pushed down in the plot, happens almost right after the murder) and they say to the coachman - we need 15 minutes, return in that time. Then they exit and almost repeat the same info - we have 15 minutes. I don't quote directly, but it is described in similar fashion. And there are many instances that feel like the info is repeated again and again.
4. How many times they complimented each other. It's great they have great feelings and appreciate each other so much, but it becomes tiring when they did nothing so far, but they can always pat each other on the back and say - you did amazing, I'm amazed by your talent as investigator etc. But they said it so many times that it starts to get on your nerves, especially when they did nothing substantial.  
5. Characters feel like they are too good. Only getting angry at appropriate times. I can't even describe it well. My best example would be with the Mrs Chamber, she does not feel that remorseful because of her husband because she sticks to Hadrian with her tears early on (she indeed made a move on him). She often tried to pass as if they're closer than they actually are. She also led another man on who was her actual brother-in-law. Her husband may have beend a piece of shit, undoubtedly, and she got a lot of sympathy points, but when Tilda witnessed her making a move on Hadrian of course she felt unsettled, but later on she returned to her pity spectrum of emotions, as if any new information, that Mrs Chambers is not so good does not taint her perception of her. Hadrian was kinda the same, although he said that he was not happy about the whole situation but was he too of a gentleman to think anything of a woman. It felt so weird I don't know. I'm pretty sure he'll be fine even if Mrs Chamber is the reason he was shot in the end, because she couldn't help her impulsive ass.

But honestly, most of the book was like.. about nothing.

They're like NPCs that move to several locations and just ask questions and then when alone analyze it, repeating the same info.

I only finished and it already slips my mind what had happened after all those interviews.

Anyway, the suspicion aspect is not engaging, it almost feels like cozy mystery, but it's boring.

They find out that Louis Chamber had several relationships (including maids), was a spendfrift and was bad at business ventures.

The one who was pushed down, former maid, was dismissed because she became pregnant and he was the father. But there is still a mystery about that, we know she was visited by a woman wearing veil the evening she died. Police were too preoccupied to send anyone for questioning I guess, becase our duo finds the info first and a brooch, confirming the maind either took it or was given it as a benefit.

Our duo interviews everyone, of course, starting from Beryl Chambers, to everyone serving and also the business associate, person who was supposed to open a shop with him. Some of teh info throws a shade on many characters etc.

But then the inquest is postponed because Mr Chambers was found to be poisoned by arsenic as well. So we have at least two people who are not connected.

Beryl gets arrested because the knife - the murder weapon - was found in her drawer after teh funeral. Honestly, anyone could have put that down there.

By this point Hadrian wasn't a big help with his visions because he only saw few glimpses of Louis and his paramours. One was maid, another unknown.

But at the most crucial point, this is where the final 15% kick in and Hadrian gets not one but several visions tha pin on the truth. Convenient.

So we find out from those visions that the perpetrators of the actual murder are two people. One is the maid Martha (pushed down) and the other is the wife of the business partner, because she was fed up with him and they wanted to thrighten him, but she had no idea Martha would stab the guy. She helped to muffle the scream so this is why no one heard a thing.

Next vision is of this wife pushing Martha to her death and also dropping the knife into the drawer.

But the next second Hadrian rushed to Tilda who was alone with this woman and asked her questions.

Because she mentioned someone recognizing her and knowing her name from the deceased the woman simply lost it and tried to push Tilda down. She also nicked Hadrian with her scissors who made it right in time to help.

But then again this woman confessed herself to doing all this.

One suspect down, one left.

We come back to Beryl who was released and she is not in the most pleased moods, but throughout the book she kept asking Tilda to find her jewelery (her husband used). But it was hard. Through visions Hadrian knew one is with his mistress.

And how convenient it is, the beloved friend, a neighbor widow who Beryl has in high regards tries to flirt with Hardian too, but Hadrian got visions how she poisoned someone. They wanted to get police onto her, but at this point they put two and two together when Beryl said that her getting sick coincided with eating cooking baked by that woman. She was asked not to act impulsively, but who's gonna listen, not her.

There was a scuffled at this lady's house and they found the gems easily. The girl tried to escape, did a dumb thing shooting at Hadrian, but Tilda got her. So this lady was like black widow, using small dosages of poison to get rid of her previous marriages. But also wanted to get rid of Beryl, when she liked Beryl as a friend and found her husband is broke so she changed her target.

Here, I could get sympathetic with her, since she was charged with what she has not done and her friend she liked so much at one point tried to poison her and had an affair with her husband.

Before reading this part I usually make notes ad the first time this neighbor lady appeared I wrote down - neighbor is sketchy. My only thoughts on Mrs Chambers were that she will hint at Hadrian and she did. I did not think of who the murderer was because it was not obvious at all. 

The reasoning of everyone kinda comes as a surprise.

Because the business partners, Pollards, already found another person to invest (otherwise the entire thing will go down). Martha had been abandoned, but we know nothing about the girl except what the valet Massey said about her. 

The neighbor lady could have made the guy sick, but they could have divorced earlier, because the guy was also set on it, not only his wife.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, since I said that Darcy Burke mainly writes romances she also started hinting at the both of them having some underlying feelings for each other. And by the end Hadrian kissed her. Hadrian is pressed to marry etc. but right now he sees only Tilda and he actually shared that he has no feelings for Beryl (Tilda was curious) and thus he said he has only one woman he'd like to kiss, but he doesn't know if she wants him to, so Tilda said (thinking they're talking about each other but not sure) that she might want him to. So at the very end when they got to his house after the last bit of crazy day he indeed kissed her. But then again boundries rose from her side, because she's not a material for earl's wife. So she kinda considers, but the social gap to her is everything I guess.

This is why I liked Julia Lewis so much, she has her own job, no one is taking it away and she can safely consider marriage with a man who she knows won't push her boundries and respects her.

Anyway, I might continue when I feel like it, but this book made it really hard to give a definite yes.

RATE: 3/5.