Cut to the Quick

Cut to the Quick by Kate Ross is the first in the 4-book Julian Kestrel mystery series. I read the 4th in the series a couple of years ago. The author died of cancer in 1998 at the age of 41 before she could finish more books. That's a great loss. The 2 I've read so far have been enjoyable.

from the back of the book:

THERE'S A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG WOMAN IN JULIAN KESTREL'S BED. UNFORTUNATELY, SHE'S DEAD.

Add the unflappable Julian Kestrel to the ranks of great sleuths of ages past. He's the very model of a proper Beau Brummell — except for his unusual willingness to plunge headlong into murder investigations. And an investigation's hard to avoid when, during an elegant weekend at a friend's country estate, a murder victim turns up in his bed. With the help of his Cockney manservant, Dipper, Kestrel sets out to find the killer among the glittering denizens of 1820s London's social stratosphere.