LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon

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MY REVIEW

When Sir Bertrand Thorndike is promoted within the ranks of His Majesty’s secret agent spy service (not the real title, but you get the idea), he needs to change his persona as a hard-drinking dilettante to an upstanding member of society. His mentor, Marcus Haverly, recommends that Bertie serve on the board of a new charity helping fallen women gain marketable skills to support themselves instead of living on the streets of Regency London. And while Bertie is at it, Marcus recommends that he recruit Pippa Cashel (former courtesan and headmistress of the charity) as a member of his team.

When a theft is committed at the Prince Regent’s London palace, the Regent puts Bertie in charge of finding the culprit. As suspicion turns to two of the housemaids (girls placed in their position by Philippa Cashel), the search moves closer to home. Bertie and Philippa must navigate the growing stakes of the crime and its subsequent cover-up while also navigating their own confusing feelings toward each other.

Erica Vetsch continues to weave in characters from her long-reaching Regency world. Marcus Haverly, my favorite character from the Serendipity and Secrets series, is the spymaster overseeing Bertie’s work. Bertie is the uncle of Juliette from the Thorndike and Swann series. Even with these tie-ins, the book could likely be read as a stand-alone as the author takes care to rebuild the world at the beginning of the book. (In fact, my one complaint is that there was a little too much world-building for my taste, and it took me three or four attempts at starting the novel before I made it twenty percent into the book, found the meat of the action, and finally got hooked on the mystery.)

The lascivious Prince Regent is painted in a very unsympathetic light while the victims of the Regency Era sex trade are treated with dignity and hope. Philippa Cashel’s struggles to forgive her father (for the neglect that sent her into a life of prostitution) form the main inspirational thread of the story. The mystery was interesting and kept me guessing. There were a few things that felt far-fetched, but I must admit I prefer entertainment over pedantic accuracy. The incipient romance between Bertie and Philippa reaches no conclusion, so I assume it is meant to span the course of subsequent books.

“Forgiveness does not excuse behavior. Forgiveness keeps another person’s behavior from destroying your own heart.”

– A Thieving at Carlton House, by Erica Vetsch