A Terribly Nasty Business — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Julia Seales
Published Year: 2025
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 300

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): After achieving her lifelong dream of solving a murder, bringing a killer to justice, and proving she is not, in fact, a morbid creep, Beatrice Steele feels like everything is finally falling into place. She's traded her etiquette-obsessed community of Swampshire for the big city of London, accompanied by her ever-trusty chaperone, Miss Bolton. They've settled in a lovely neighborhood, Sweetbriar, known for its proximity to the Sweet Majestic theater, picturesque pleasure gardens, and an unfortunate infestation of flying squirrels. But Beatrice's favorite part is that Sweetbriar is also home to D.S. Investigations, the new office she opened with the prickly, annoyingly logical Inspector Drake to solve the city's brutally thrilling crimes.

However, nothing is turning out how Beatrice imagined it would. Sir Huxley, famed gentleman inspector and Beatrice's former crush, is still considered the real investigator in London, so the only cases left for Beatrice and Drake are lost pets and spectacles. Not that Beatrice has much time for crime-solving, anyways, as her mother still expects her to find an eligible (rich) husband to protect their family from destitution. Beatrice is struggling to balance all the demands on her and begins to wonder if she can become a true detective in a city that feels full of false promises.

That is until a string of murders thrusts Beatrice and Drake into the center of a scandal that pits the neighborhood's wealthiest against the arts community, spreading fear and chaos throughout the city. As they follow the trail through bewildering ballrooms, secretive shops, and odd operas, Beatrice must survive threats to her partnership, her business, and her place in society to break the case - before it's too late.

First Impressions

I read the first book in this series for book club and it really made me laugh. I was excited to see that there was a sequel and I do love these covers. I think between the cover and the title I would’ve picked this up on first impression alone.

What I thought

This book was just as cute as the first.

Beatrice is back but this time she has left Swampshire for London. Miss Bolton is her chaperone as she lives in the city and works an investigative business with Detective Drake. But one of the caveats to her being in London is that she participates in the social season o find a rich husband to help support her family back in Swampshire. When a man is found murdered, an accused actor comes to Beatrice and Drake to help clear his name and find the real murderer. Beatrice, Drake, and Miss Bolton have to navigate an investigation and finding a husband all at the same time.

I love how these stories have a strong female lead in a time where women were not meant to be independent. All of the women in this book are bucking the stereotypes of society. Beatrice is observant and I love her skillset. I also appreciated that she started to make friends in this book. The world is being built more and more and I can see this as a long standing series.

The mystery itself is semi-predictable, but not in an annoying way. There is so much going on in the story outside of the mystery that I don’t find myself focused on trying to figure out who the murder is intensely. The will they or won’t they with Drake and Beatrice is still occurring which I enjoyed. I like how he seems to be a little baffled by Beatrice yet accepts her completely.

Seales does a fabulous job making characters and settings that pop off the page. Who else could make a city infested with flying squirrels seem plausible?

First Impressions

What I thought

Lindsey's bookshelf: currently-reading