1905 is near its end when Dr Jonty Stewart joins St. Bride's College, Cambridge. Where a friendship starts with Dr Orlando Coppersmith. Can this friendship turn to love. But the next year brings the first of the murders. Inspector Wilson and Sergeant Cohen investigate and are happy for Stewart and Coppersmith to help in this closed community.
An enjoyable mystery, with some engaging characters. Hopefully the series will have more mystery than romance. ( )

Delightful British historical mystery. I loved and adored the writing. Third person, dual pov, some parts of it from the author's pov, I think.
I enjoyed the relationship development. Orlando and Jonty are sweet together. Orlando is adorable in his innocence and cluelessness. Even tho some of the things he said about his past and family were painful to read. Same for Jonty, the only difference that he at least knew that what happened to him was a bad thing, Orlando was clueless about his parents "teachings" being a bad thing.

The mystery in itself was good too, I actually hadn't a clue whodunit. The conclusion tho was kind of weird, but this happens in almost every historical mystery I read: the culprit is so very polite when they are busted, it's like they are getting ready to dance, not a throwdown. Odd.
The aftermath was very satisfying tho.

Overall I enjoyed it. 3.5 stars rounded down for now.


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A well-written story set in Edwardian England just after the turn of the 20th century. I am a lover of words and, as such, delighted in an abundance of multi-syllabic words that, up until now, I had never encountered in this genre and which helped to immerse me in the story's time-frame.

I loved the two main characters - Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith. Their tender and sweet love story was deftly interwoven with and contrasted the mystery of several cold-hearted murders of young men at the Cambridge college where both men teach.

I'm looking forward to reading the next instalment of this series! ( )

The first in a series of books about 2 Cambridge Teachers in 1906. Jonty & Orlando meet and fall in love and together become amateur sleuth's. A wonderful book, full of first love emotions and rich characters in both Jonty & Orlando. The romance takes it's time, which is a good thing, as Jonty slowly brings his new friend's feelings to the surface. Jonty is the more experienced, Orlando is painfully shy, introverted and somewhat of a snob and socially inept. These two become unlikely friends at first, without the knowledge that they will become lovers. But it is Orlando that captured my heart, his innocent qualities and joy in experiencing each tender, loving moment with Jonty.It's all a revelation to him. This is a terrific story and neat little mystery. I am looking forward to this series. ( )

Charlie Cochrane’s Lessons in Love is a lovely Edwardian mixture of romance and murder mystery. Set in 1906 at Cambridge University, two fellows (a term we Americans are unfamiliar with, but refers to a former student of the University who is now on staff, generally in a teaching position) meet and slowly fall in love. Jonathan (Jonty) is a high-spirited, jocular English teacher who sets his sights on warming up the reticent, brooding mathematician, Orlando. No sooner does Jonty break the ice, than a murder occurs at the college. As the murdered boy is one of Orlando’s students, he and Jonty get involved and aid the police in the investigation.

Most of the story’s charm lies in the romance, which is allowed to take its sweet time to come to fruition. Both men are acutely aware of the dangers and in Orlando’s case he needs the “lessons in love” that Jonty tenderly provides to assuage his guilt over what he doesn’t understand.

Cochrane does a good job weaving the romance and mystery together in a way that felt comfortable and the nail-biting conclusion to the mystery had me hooked clear through to the climax. The writing style is so beautifully simple and straightforward that it is effortless to read. I should also mention that I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sex in the book is romanticized and not explicit – Linden Bay, shame on you for lying about the heat rating!

I heartily recommend this breezy historical romance and look forward to spending more time with the adorable Cambridge Fellows in the next installment: Lessons in Desire. ( )