Barbara's rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Rosalind Thorne Mysteries #7
Publication Date: 12/26/23
Period: Regency (1820 London)
Number of Pages: 304
Rosalind Thorne's aristocratic family is certainly a peculiar one. It houses a father (the Baron) who is a forger and is either dead or on the run and a sister who was a highly sought-after courtesan but has recently married. Rosalind was left to make her way in the world and she didn't have many options. She could follow in her sister's footsteps or she could find a way to make herself useful – and charge for the service. So, being useful it was! Over the books in the series, Rosalind has gone from helping ton ladies solve 'problems' and accepting whatever 'gifts' those ladies wanted to bestow to helping the ladies and having a written contract for services and payment. Even though she is now officially charging, she is still received by most of the ton.
This case involves poisoning and murder – and as an extra case to follow, Adam Harkness is on the trail of traitors. So, two different cases and two different investigators. I had thought we'd spend the majority of our reading time with Rosalind – since it is her series – but it seemed to me that we spent more page time with Adam. Perhaps not, but that is the way it felt to me.
Rosalind worked hard and struggled to identify the culprit in what, to me, seemed to be a simple case to solve. So, again, for me, the more interesting – and disappointing – case was Adams. I say disappointed because people got away with crimes because the Bow Street powers- that be had their own version of the law and justice.
For some reason, neither mystery caught my attention and drew me into the story. I think part of that was the dual storyline and alternating chapters between Adam's story and Rosalind's story. Perhaps, given the ending of this book, we'll see both Rosalind and Adam working side-by-side on future cases. I certainly hope that is the case.
Overall, I was disappointed in the book and the characters and would not read it a second time. I want to like Adam and Rosalind and cheer for them as they work together to solve cases, and I hope that will happen starting with the next book. If it doesn't, then I probably won't pursue reading any future books in the series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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