An Execution, an Earl, and Miss Hughes

Miss Sarah Hughes has long accepted her fate as the dustiest spinster on the shelf in Plumpton—until a local landowner is found dead, and suspicion falls on her father.

Determined to protect her family, Sarah is drawn into village gossip, family secrets, and one extremely inconvenient alliance: a fake courtship with the Earl of Ashford. Lord Lucian Deverell never intended to fall in love again. But when a fiercely clever farmer’s daughter rescues him from a matchmaking ambush, he offers his help in her investigation—and finds himself unexpectedly smitten.

Between confusing clues, flaring tempers, and the well-meaning meddling of Mrs Mifford, Sarah...

Miss Sarah Hughes has long accepted her fate as the dustiest spinster on the shelf in Plumpton—until a local landowner is found dead, and suspicion falls on her father.

Determined to protect her family, Sarah is drawn into village gossip, family secrets, and one extremely inconvenient alliance: a fake courtship with the Earl of Ashford. Lord Lucian Deverell never intended to fall in love again. But when a fiercely clever farmer’s daughter rescues him from a matchmaking ambush, he offers his help in her investigation—and finds himself unexpectedly smitten.

Between confusing clues, flaring tempers, and the well-meaning meddling of Mrs Mifford, Sarah and Lucian must uncover the truth. And Lucian must also convince Sarah that his courtship is no longer fake—but very much in earnest and he wants her as his bride.

This delightful cozy mystery Regency romance is part of a series but can be read as a standalone.