“Jane
Austen meets Sherlock Holmes in this new Regency mystery series.
Newly returned from finishing school,
Lady Juliette Thorndike is ready to debut in London society. Due to her years
away, she hasn't spent much time with her parents, and sees them only as the
flighty, dilettante couple the other nobles love. But when they disappear, she
discovers she never really knew them at all. They've been living double lives
as government spies--and they're only the latest in a long history of espionage
that is the family's legacy.
Now Lady Juliette is determined to
continue their work. Mentored by her uncle, she plunges into the dangerous
world of spy craft. From the glittering ballrooms of London to the fox hunts,
regattas, and soirees of country high society, she must chase down hidden
clues, solve the mysterious code her parents left behind, and stay out of
danger. All the while, she has to keep her endeavors a secret from her best
friend and her suitors--not to mention nosy, irritatingly handsome Bow Street
runner Daniel Swann, who suspects her of a daring theft.
Can Lady Juliette outwit her enemies
and complete her parents' last mission? Or will it lead her to a terrible end?”
Series: Book #1 in the “Thorndike and Swann Regency Mysteries” series.
Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned & remembered; Prayers
& Asking God why; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Juliette
thinks that God and her parents abandoned her and that God isn’t listening to
her (*Spoiler* though at the end, realizes that she was under their care the entire time
*End of Spoiler*); Juliette struggles with lying and wondering if the Lord
would ask her to enter into a life of deception (she struggles throughout the
book of her parents teaching her not to lie and yet they lied to her about
their work); Daniel prays about 2/3s in and catches himself as he thinks he and
God have a “don’t-bother-me-and-I-won’t-bother-you status, but prays again later
on; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of blessings; Mentions
of a statue of a saint; A few mentions of churches & church going; A mention
of Heaven; A mention of a church’s stained-glass depicting Biblical events;
*Note: A mention of the phrases “needs
must when the devil drives”.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’, a ‘hang it’, two forms of ‘idiot’,
and three ‘stupid’s; Some eye rolling; Finding a body (barely-above-not-detailed);
Seeing an autopsy (barely-above-not-detailed) & discussing the findings with
the doctor (up to semi-detailed, not gruesome, mostly from a more medical
standpoint); Aiming guns, firing them, injuring another for self-protection (barely-above-not-detailed);
Being held at knife-point, gun-point, being kidnapped, & threatened; Blood/Bleeding,
Injuries, & feeling faint (barely-above-not-detailed); Juliette has to lie because
of secrets (she struggles with this); Daniel goes to a pub to find out
information (he does not drink nor order a drink); All about many mentions of
thieves, criminals, crimes, stealing, stolen items, break-ins, & robberies;
Many mentions of murders, murderers, killings, bodies, finding bodies, &
how the deaths happened (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of the war &
fighting; Mentions of gallows & executions; Mentions of jails/prisons; Mentions
of vandalism & vandals (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies,
lying, & deception; Mentions of rumors & gossip; Mentions of drinking, social
drinking, drinks/alcohol/wine, pubs/salons, drunks, & hangovers (Juliette’s
uncle acts like a drunk a couple of times); Mentions of cigars, pipes, tobacco,
smoking, & smoke; Mentions of hunts & hunting (including going to a
hunt, Juliette is relieved that the hounds are unable to get the fox); Mentions
of throwing up; A few mentions of being bullied; A couple mentions of the possibility
of someone being captured or dead; A couple mentions of fights/brawls; A couple
mentions of jealousy; A mention of regicide; A mention of a possible fire; A mention
of a possible gambling debt; A mention of snuffboxes.
Sexual Content- A couple greeting
kisses (on the hands/knuckles); Noticing, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed);
Daniel is an illegitimate child (he calls himself that, a “by-blow”, and a “baseborn”,
and also resents his mother for agreeing for him to be in someone else’s care.
He does not know his biological father. At one point he wonders if Juliette’s
father could be his father, but quickly throws out the notion when he thinks
that if that was the case, him and Juliette would be half siblings); A couple
mentions of blushes; A mention of a man possibly trifling with another man’s
wife & a jealous husband; A mention of a couple being found together in a storage
room; A mention of a man liking one of the barmaids at a pub; A mention of a
prostitute (a man assumes Juliette is one because of her clothing and leers at
her); Very light attraction, & the emotions (not romance or relationship
heavy. Juliette and Daniel notice each other, but nothing really happens in
this first book);
*Note: A mention of a woman being
attacked (not said if it was a physical or sexual way).
-Juliette Thorndike, age 19/20 (?)
-Daniel Swann, age 24
P.O.V.
switches between them
Set in 1816
320 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Okay, wait, that was so
much fun.
I picked this book up on a whim
because 1.) regency 2.) spies and 3.) art mysteries. It’s easy to say, sold,
sigh me up.
I really liked Juliette and her
thought processes felt very relatable in many ways. Juliette accepted her
family’s secret quicker than most would, but it didn’t bother me much because
she was determined to bring her parents home soon, so she quickly got to work.
She struggled a lot with the concept of having to lie but yet also wanting to
honor God in the way of how she was raised. I really appreciate that struggle
being shown and while it wasn’t fully wrapped up by the end of this novel, I
think it will be shown again and discussed more in the next book.
I think my only negative was two
minor things, but it did drop my rating from a 5 star to a 4.5: there was a lot
of characters to keep up with. A lot. Because I read this book as an e-book I
made use of the search feature often to remind me which Duke this was or who’s
Christian name was so-and-so. The second would be that I had a bit of a hard
time with the writing style, though, I’m wondering now if it was actually the
font of the e-book that was different from normal.
Another note: I absolutely adored
was the use of different words. (I may have slightly swooned over the
vocabularies found in this book.) There were so many new and usual words that I
highlighted to save to use some day. It was so fun and the dictionary feature
of the e-book system definitely came in handy. Most were of French origin and
it made it feel very different from the other regency books I’ve read, in a
good way.
So, all of that was the cake itself
and the icing, but the cherry on top of said cake was finding out that
this series is going to continue to be about these same main characters, not a
side character that we were introduced to. I don’t see many series published
nowadays that follow the same main characters throughout for however many books
the series will be. I’m quite tickled pink, actually, about this development.
That’s why the romance was super light in this book (though, I have to admit
I’m a little concerned for the later books’ romance content…I really hope it
stays on the lighter side) and wasn’t the main focus of the plot at all. It was
so nice. It was very focused on the mystery that while Juliette and Daniel were
noticing each other, it wasn’t over the top or anywhere near what the book was
about. (Major plus in my eyes!)
I’m so glad I randomly picked up
this book as it’s now one of my top favorites from the year. I’m ready for the
second book! :D
See y’all on Friday with a new
review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this
author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
