Bedazzled all over again!
by Andrea Penrose
Another satisfyingly brilliant novel that follows the Earl of Wrexford and Charlotte Sloane and their small circle of unlikely and very likeable characters into the depths of the rookeries and dark places of London.
Wrexford, seemingly diamond hard and astute, a man of Science and logic, with a softer side he hardly dares acknowledge. Charlotte and her double life as the leading satirical caricaturist A.J. Quill, still harboring her own deeply held secrets, always struggling for anonymity and keeping to the shadows. And of course, the weasels, Raven and Hawk, the unlikely guttersnipes that have captured my heart just like they've won Charlotte's, and dare I say Wrexford's if he'd own to having one.
This time, as Penrose declaims in her wonderful author's note, "steam engines lie at the heart of the mystery" and this exacting duo and their comrades follow murder and mayhem set against the 'heart' of the mechanical revolution of the Regency Era. The notes are well worth looking at, giving an insight into the author's exacting understandings of the times and the political, social and economic machinations of the era.
This is a time of great flux and change! And change is creeping up on Charlotte. She is moving to slightly more upmarket living quarters, with of course Raven and Hawk. (By the way their adaptation of new names is just wonderful along with Wrexford's elegant solution). For me I t's these little very human moments that set the Wrexford and Sloane mysteries apart from others of the same genre.
Of course the story is littered with apt Latin phrases that Wrexford and Charlotte mutter to themselves reflect or quote at each other.
"Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis—The times are changing, and we change with them. “I, of all people, ought not be intimidated by change,” [Charlotte] whispered. The gravitas of Latin usually served to steady her emotions."
A further conundrum about Charlotte's background! How does a woman of this era know enough Latin to freely use it?
The combination of mystery and the plethora of engaging characters makes this edgy series a joy to read. A new character that's been added and looks set to join the menagerie (I hope) is the rather wonderful, matter of fact, ready for anything, lady's maid, McClellan.
I am particularly pleased that more is revealed about Charlotte. As I said in my review of the first of the series, Murder on Black Swan Lane, I'm hooked! And this new episode gives me no reason to unhook!
A NetGalley ARC
*****
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