Captain Edgewick, a senior officer and self-proclaimed hero, doesn't care for Lt. Morgan, and is quick to point out that Garet has no place in teaching at West Point. He tends to find every way possible to make Garet's life unbearable.

When Garet befriends a troubled Cadet, Lambert Lee Gardner, he discovers that Lam is related to West Point's Superintendent, General Robert E. Lee, a legendary hero of the Mexican war. Captain Edgewick has it in for Lam as well, and it doesn't bode well for either when Garet and Lam are the ones to find the Captain's dead body floating in the river. Garet was overheard arguing with Captain Edgewick while others witnessed Lam challenging him to a duel. The appointed investigator, Captain Barnard seems intent on hanging one of them. When Garet is no longer a suspect, all evidence points to Lam, but it's far too convenient and Garet and Lam's sister, Ellie, are determined to clear his name.

Garet meets Dorothea Edgewick, daughter of the deceased Captain, and is swept away by her beauty and grace. Unfortunately, there is something about her that's as phony as the trumped up charges against Lam, and being related to the General isn't going to help any.

Duty, Honor, Muder by Pamela Cummings is a wonderful read. It's a mixture of history, romance, mystery and suspense written by an evidently very talented author. Her secondary characters lend as much to the story as do the hero and heroine, and the story is impressively detail-oriented. This is the second book that I've read by Ms. Cummings and I didn't think she could outdo herself, but she did. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the first, I almost didn't volunteer to review this one solely because the title was not something I would normally read. I'm pleased that I did because I would have missed out on a fabulous book. It's true, you can't tell a book by its cover!

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Sweet

Reviewer: Brett Scott
September 11, 2003