The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

Set in 1881 London, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie follows Ian Mackenzie, the youngest brother of a powerful ducal family, long dismissed as dangerously "mad" after years spent in an asylum as a child. Ian is eccentric and obsessive — particularly about his prized collection of Ming pottery — and ill at ease in the society that whispers about him.

Beth Ackerley, a widow who has recently inherited a fortune, wants nothing more than a peaceful life free of drama. At the opera, Ian recognizes that her fiancé is unfaithful and, in characteristically blunt fashion, proposes to her himself. Beth refuses and escapes to Paris, but Ian follows, and what begins as fascination grows into a genuine, hard-won connection as Beth helps Ian navigate a world that has never made room for him — while a murder investigation closes in around them both.

The first book in Jennifer Ashley's Mackenzies series.