Friday, December 31, 2021

"The Debutante's Code" by Erica Vetsch

 About this book:

  “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

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
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.

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