3 stars. Meh, this one was disappointing. Good idea for a story-showing the interactions and differences between the classes; and some social justice issues that were interesting. Not altogether successful in any other way. The book begins six months after the birth of Emily’s twin sons-she was just newly pregnant at the end of book seven so it was a weird start to the book. We are just dropped into the plot with no explanation of why the time jump. I actually stopped reading to see if there was a book 7.5 that I had missed-nope, just on to book 8 and a nursery full of kids! The plot was that a neighbor of Emily and Colin appears at their door and drops dead. It is quickly apparent it was murder most foul and her mother is appalled that he had the nerve to die on the Axminster carpet. Lady Bromley is hilarious and in this book she is fantastic as she pops in and out of the plot to dispense her version of how respectable ladies should behave. The rest of the book is okay-takes too long to get anywhere and then ends up going nowhere. Too much running around talking to people and then going back and talk talk talking to them all over again. Emily and Colin don’t interact much except to passionately kiss and retire to their rooms-boring. In book seven, the book-within-the-book device was well done and added to the plot. In this one I just wanted to slap all of them and skip over those parts. I hope Tasha Alexander gives up on this mess and just writes the next book in normal chapters. Three stars and on to book nine.