Otherwise Engaged / Amanda Quick / 342 pages / 5 Gold Rings December Challenge

"Amity Doncaster woke up to find herself notorious for the second time that week."  Once for saving a man's life, the second was for quite possible ending one...a serial killer known as The Bridegroom.  Ms. Doncaster wields a tessen, a deadly weapon which masquerades as a fan, as well as credible medical skills which she learned from her father.  She also writes travel pieces for The Flying Intelligencer.  When Benedict Stanbridge, the mans whose life she saved, returns to London from America and hears that Amity's name is linked to his in scandal, his solution is to say that they are engaged.  There is no doubt that there is some spark on the ship voyage they shared from the Caribbean to New York, but the engineer in Benedict has been searching for "a proper, predictable female, one who possessed all the qualities of a fine clock.  She would be reliable and dependable...He would wind her up on a regular basis and she, in turn, would not surprise him..."  Benedict, Amity, her sister, Penny Marsden, and Inspector Logan from Scotland Yard embark on an investigation to discover the identity of the killer kidnapper, if he is, indeed, still alive.  This book offers something for almost everyone - Russian spies, pioneering inventions for utilizing solar energy, interesting facts on fashionable London attire, feisty females, romance...