To be or not to be!

The Lady Plays with Fire (Goode’s Code to Misconduct #2) by Susanna Craig   

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It was not the most fortuitous of introductions. Julie Addison goes with her sort of aunt / companion Mrs Hayes to the theatre. They’ve obtained the use of Graham McKay, Earl of Dunstane’s box for the season from the Box Manager. The Earl apparently stayed in the wilds of Scotland.

Imagine her consternation to find the Earl occupying said box. What?

The theatre’s full so there’s no chance of seats somewhere else.

Reluctantly Graham allows them to join him.

Little does he know that Julie is actually “Miss on Scene” who writes theatre reviews for a relatively new women’s publication “Mrs Goode’s Magazine for Misses.”

By the same token no one is aware that Graham is the infamous playwright Randome Blackadder who’s currently writing another scathing play ridiculing his audience, including the reviewer Miss on Scene. Graham is both appalled and struck by Miss on Scene’s latest review of his work.

The doyen of the magazine Lady Deveraux is understandably nervous about the turn of events. After all the magazine is shrouded in secrecy. No one wants their identity revealed.

Much of the tale’s tension is tied up with the secrecy and with the to-ing and fro-ing and even woo-ing between the Earl and Julie.

An interesting conundrum that facilitates some cheeky repartee, perilous moments of near discovery, and delightful scintillating scenes.

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.