BOOK REVIEW: The Trick of the Treasure by Mary Lancaster

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Constance Silver and Solomon Grey are at it again in The Trick of the Treasure, Book 4 of Mary Lancaster’s new Victorian mystery series. 

Constance is the owner of high-priced brothel and safe place for disadvantaged women. Solomon is a hugely successful self-made businessman. And they have fallen in love.

They are also the detectives running the Silver and Grey Agency. Their latest assignment is finding a treasure that has gone missing from the safe room of an adventurer, Barnabas Lloyd. Lloyd is addicted to treasure hunting, to the point that he has nearly bankrupted his family. This treasure, literally discovered on a deserted island with the help of an old map, is desperately needed to pay off creditors and keep the family afloat. The family consists of a grown son who accompanied Barnabas on this latest trip, a sixteen-year-old daughter who is discovering suitors,  a twelve-year-old daughter who is wiser than her older siblings, and a wife who finds life more enjoyable when her husband is away than when he is home. There is also Barnabas’ spinster sister, who is ignored at home but finds her joy in charitable endeavors.

The treasure was unloaded from the ship, inspected by customs officers, then carried to the Lloyds’ home, where it was locked in an interior room with no windows and only one door. The next morning, when Barnabas went to show the treasure to his youngest daughter, the treasure chest was empty.

Someone stole it. But who? And how?

Constance and Solomon dive into the mystery with their usual conscientious flair. Along the way, they begin to question whether the danger of investigative work is worth it. Although each is willing to risk their own life, it’s different watching a loved one do so.

This is another intriguing, well-plotted historical mystery. The romance between the two leads is progressing apace. I recommend this series highly – but strongly suggest you start with book 1.

BOOK REVIEW: Measure of Devotion by Nell Joslin

Measure of Devotion by Nell Joslin is a poignant story of a mother’s determined love set against the backdrop of the Civil War.

Susannah and Jacob Shelburne are South Carolina farmers with Union and abolitionist sympathies. However, their son, Francis, is a heart-and-soul Confederate, who joined the army as soon as he turned 18. There is a good deal of quiet family dysfunction in the Shelburne home, but when a telegram arrives reporting that Francis has been severely wounded in Tennessee, Susannah sets off to find him and tend to him.

The novel follows Susannah on her journey and also takes the reader back in time to see her past and the forces that shaped her. Her inner strength allows her to overcome the difficulties of travel and the hardships of caring for her wounded son in war-torn Tennessee. When the Confederates lose the Battle of Lookout Mountain and retreat, Francis becomes a prisoner of war. Susannah must use every resource she can to win him a parole he does not want.

This is a beautifully written, moving novel that does not shy away from the devastation of war.

BOOK REVIEW: Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie

 I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Wow! Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie  is a page-turner.

Sophie is a junior culture writer for a big London newspaper. She is on assignment in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival, along with the paper’s top theater critic, Alex Lyons. They are sharing a rental flat provided by the company. They are work friends, not much more, when the real story begins.

Alex went to a one-woman show, put on by a young actress, Hayley Sinclair, about climate change and the patriarchy. The show was awful. He wrote a biting review and gave it one star. He filed it with his editor, then went to a bar for a few drinks. There, he met Hayley, also alone, having a drink. They hooked up. He didn’t tell her who he was, or that he had just written a potentially career-ending review of her show. She discovered this the next morning, reading the review in front of Sophie in the flat.

But Hayley turns the tables by re-inventing her show as The Alex Lyons Experience. She tells the audience what happened, reading aloud from the review, and encouraging women to tell their own stories about horrible men, particularly if the horrible man was Alex.

Over the course of the Festival, as more and more women speak up at the new show and on social media,  readers (and Sophie) see just what a misogynistic player Alex is, and how shallow and unrepentant he is. Only Sophie can see hints of vulnerability, and she makes readers see them too. It doesn’t make him any more likeable, but it does make him understandable.

Even recognizing his faults, Sophie is drawn to him. The more he confides in her, the more she learns about the forces that have shaped him, the more guiltily sympathetic she feels. And Sophie examines her own life as well. She desperately misses her mother, who died too young. She has conflicted feelings about her husband. She misses her carefree younger self and her one-year-old son in roughly equal amounts. She wonders if she is cut out to be a critic when she wants everyone to like her.

Runcie does a superb job of taking the reader into the heart of the Fringe Festival while also doing deep dives on the psychology of Sophie, Alex, and Hayley. The tension in the story keeps ratcheting up as Alex digs himself into a hole he can’t possibly climb out of, and, as a reader, I’m not sure that I want him to.

A gripping novel. Highly recommended!

BOOK REVIEW: A Tarnished Canvas by Anna Lee Huber

 I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

I’ve been following Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby Mysteries since the beginning of the series. For fans of historical mystery, this is a series not to miss. A Tarnished Canvas is the thirteenth book, and there is also a novella tucked in there. While the latest novel can be read as a standalone, it would really be better to have read at least some of the earlier books to get the gist of the relationships. The mystery can stand alone, but you’ll lose out on a lot of the heart of the story.

Kiera Gage (Lady Darby) is an artist, a new mother, a skilled sleuth, and a devoted wife. That is a handful for anyone, but fortunately, she and her husband are wealthy enough to afford good help – a valet, lady’s maid, and nursemaid who also aid with the sleuthing. The valet and lady’s maid add a second element of troubled romance to the storyline.

Kiera is a sought-after portraitist amongst the members of high society, but she is currently working on material for an exhibition of the downtrodden populace. While she wants to make her peers see the subjects, she’s fearful of a negative response. (Her past has her very insecure about being attacked for her work.) As the book opens, Kiera receives an invitation and catalogue to an art auction. The effects of a deceased collector are being sold off. During the auction, calamity strikes. Part of the floor collapses, sending numerous attendees plummeting. Although at first it appears to be an accident, there are hints that it was intentional. Kiera and her inquiry agent husband, Sebastian Gage, are drawn into the investigation. They are aided, to Gage’s dismay, by the local crime lord Bonnie Brock (who is infatuated with Kiera.)

Once again, Huber crafts a well-plotted mystery that will keep you guessing until the end, and immerses it within ongoing complex family dynamics. This is an engaging series to follow!

BOOK REVIEW: Look Before You Leap by Virginia Heath

 I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Look Before You Leap by Virginia Heath is a delightful (moderately steamy) Regency Rom-Com.

Lottie Travers is a farmgirl whose family farm is failing, despite the efforts of her father and brothers. Lottie has been granted a great opportunity, education in Miss Prentice’s School, where she is to learn how to behave amongst wealthy aristocrats so that she can work as a governess, maid, or companion. She’s grateful for the opportunity because it allows her to earn wages to send home. Unfortunately, she is obsessed with fast horses, to the point that she can’t help flirting with stablehands in order to borrow mounts to go riding. And ultimately, in roundabout ways, getting herself fired. Fortunately, she is given the opportunity to be a companion to a crotchety old woman who seems amused by her escapades. Unfortunately, the lady is the aunt of a young lord with whom Lottie had collided in a park. The encounter was memorable for the lord’s rudeness and for his great good looks.

The lord, Viscount Wennington (Guy) is as grumpy as they come. Years ago, he made a fool of himself by making a very public proposal and being very publicly refused. Ever since, he has avoided female company, avoided polite society, and spent his time on his estate, taking care of his tenants. However, his 30^th birthday is approaching, and his grandchild-obsessed mother is plotting (along with her sister, Lottie’s employer, Lady Frinton) to throw him a birthday party filled with eligible ladies as guests. The party has to be kept secret because they know he’ll hate it.

While accompanying Lady Frinton, Lottie is repeatedly thrown into company with Guy. Their personality conflicts lead to a great deal of bickering and miscommunication, but the physical attraction is strong, and they are both good people at heart, so apologies follow the arguments and the two grow ever more enamored with one another. (Especially when Lottie is compared to the aristocratic competition!)

For fans of grumpy/sunshine romances, this one is fun!

BOOK REVIEW: Eliza and the Duke by Harper St. George

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Eliza and the Duke is the latest Victorian Era Romance by Harper St. George, the second book in the series The Doves of New York.

Eliza Dove is an American heiress whose substantial dowry will only come to her if she marries a titled British gentleman. She has one waiting in the wings, but he’s a prosey bore with a nasty habit of frequenting prostitutes. All too aware of what it’s like to be poor, Eliza accepts that she will have to go through with the marriage, but first, she wants a bit of adventure. She finds it with Simon Cavell, a commoner, who currently works in a semi-respectable club. However, in the past, he survived as a prizefighter/brawler and as a “punisher” for a crime lord. (Duke is his prizefighting nickname.) Simon wants to break free of his old life, but the crime lord, Brody, has a hold on him. Brody knows about Simon’s very young niece, hidden away at a brothel. If Simon doesn’t keep paying up, something bad will happen to both Simon and the niece.

Enter Eliza. She first meets him in the aftermath of a prizefight when he is dopey from the fight. She meets him again when her brother-in-law hires him as a short-term protector for his wife’s sisters, Eliza and Jenny. Once Eliza sees him again, she knows what she wants: one night of adventure (not sex), with Simon for a guide. She wants to see London’s seamy side.

Of course, the more time they spend with one another, the more they both realize they want more than one adventuresome night. The novel gets steamy. And the protagonists have to figure out a way to be together.

It’s nice to read a romance where both characters are not aristocrats (though they operate on the fringes of the ton and have aristocratic friends.) And Simon is a character with depth. But this is not one of my favorite Harper St. George novels. Eliza came across as a bit too selfish, impulsive, and irresponsible. True, she needed to be headstrong to get out of a future that would have stultified her, but I came away with the impression that her infatuation with Simon was more instalust than instalove.

Nevertheless, the side characters are interesting and I suspect the other books in the series will appeal to me more.

BOOK REVIEW: Winter's End by Barbara Pronin

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

We think of D-Day as the beginning of the end of WWII. But it wasn’t the end. Yet. Barbara Pronin’s new historical novel, Winter’s End, takes readers into the lives of Resistance fighters in the Netherlands in the waning days of the war. Nazis are ramping up their cruelty and destruction in a desperate attempt to stave off defeat. Over the devastating winter of 1944-45, peace was still too far off.

The novel follows three women in Haarlem, where the Nazi presence was strong. Evi, a sixteen-year-old patriot, wanting to do more for her country, accepts the assignment of luring lecherous, drunken German officers into the forest to be killed. Zoe, a young veterinarian, repeatedly finds ways to hide (and feed) several Jewish families, Jewish physicians, and a German enemy of the Reich. Mila, the beautiful daughter of a collaborator, uses her position in the father’s home to learn information from high-ranking German officers to pass on to critical members of the Resistance, and, when necessary, perform dangerous missions herself. Along the way, all three women find love in unexpected places.

This is a gripping, inspiring novel of bravery and endurance in the face of fascism.