Having been close friends with and a neighbor of Jeremy Sheffield, the Duke of Bainbridge, since she was a girl, Lady Emily Hargreaves is just as surprised as everyone else when he becomes engaged to American heiress Amity Wells. Prior to his betrothal, Jeremy employed numerous acts of subterfuge to ward off marriage-minded misses and their maniacal mamas who set their sights on him. At long last, however, Jeremy has found his one and only.

To celebrate the impending nuptials, the bride's parents are hosting a month-long excursion to the French Riviera. While the trip is extremely extravagant and overly ostentatious by British standards, the Americans have insisted on splashing out on the best of everything, from meals to accommodations to entertainment. Included in this entourage are Lady Emily and her husband, Colin; two of Lady Emily's dearest friends, Cecile and Margaret; the groom's brother, Jack; the bride's brother, Augustus; the bride's close companion, Christabel; and a couple of the groom's closest friends, Mr. Neville and Mr. Fairfield.

"Surrounded by her nearest and dearest, [Lady Emily] shows us once again why she is able to get to the heart of the matter, thwart the bad guy and emerge victorious, all while maintaining her sense of style, wit and humor."

In spite of her true efforts to embrace Jeremy's intended as a friend, Lady Emily finds something inherently dislikable about the young American beauty who seems hell bent on proving that she is every bit as wild and wicked as her husband-to-be. While Jeremy believes he has found his true match, Lady Emily fears that he may be beset by unhappiness once he truly gets to know his bride. Still, in an effort at civility, she takes pains to avoid divulging her true opinion to the duke.

Before Lady Emily has time to examine her feelings toward Amity more closely, Chauncey Neville is found dead in Jeremy's suite at La Croisette, the most fashionable hotel in Cannes. What is quickly deemed a suicide makes no sense to the inquiring mind of Lady Emily, even though everyone else seems determined to accept the tragedy at face value. As events quickly take a more sinister turn, though, other members of the group begin to join Lady Emily in her suspicions.

As if it weren't enough to try to get to the bottom of Mr. Neville's demise, Lady Emily must also ferret out who is taking great pains to make it appear that she is in love with Jeremy and doing everything she can to sabotage the relationship between her old pal and his betrothed.

THE ADVENTURESS, the 10th full-length novel in the Lady Emily series, presents readers with a mystery that touches the heroine's heart because it involves her oldest and dearest friend. Instead of falling prey to the party or parties who are working against her, Lady Emily keeps her composure and tackles the situation head on. Surrounded by her nearest and dearest, she shows us once again why she is able to get to the heart of the matter, thwart the bad guy and emerge victorious, all while maintaining her sense of style, wit and humor.