Barbara’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Series: Wrexford & Sloane #7
Publication Date: 9/26/23
Period: Regency – 1814 London
Number of Pages: 304

I’ve enjoyed this series since the first book. The characters have grown, matured, and become more three-dimensional. Plus, we’ve added some new and very interesting supporting characters to the group as well. With the major changes that have happened in the characters’ lives, the books have also become less recklessly hold-your-breath physical and more thoroughly investigative and intellectual. Not that there isn’t a good kidnapping, or a gruesome murder to solve because there definitely is.

Neville Greeley came home from the Napoleonic wars terribly scarred in both mind and body. He loves the peace and tranquility of working as the head librarian at Merton College Library. Lately, flashes of memory have been coming back to him and he knows he must contact Wexford to tell him what he is remembering. Greeley was the only survivor of an ambush that took the life of his best friend Thomas (Wexford’s brother), and the rest of their group of soldiers. What is he remembering? He’ll never be able to tell because he is found murdered the next morning.

Charlotte Stone, Countess of Wrexford, is in her disguise as Magpie while she watches a huge warehouse/workshop burn. Was the fire set deliberately? Is it something her other alter ego, A.J. Quill, needs to become involved in? She leaves – unsure. However, when she discovers what her wards – collectively known as the weasels – have to share, she knows she’ll have to at least ask questions. The building that burned was the workshop of a gifted inventor who was trying to develop a way to adapt steam to power large ships that could cross the sea. Sabotage? When she discovers their friend Kit has been approached to invest in a consortium that is trying to do the same thing, she knows she has to be involved.

As they work through the clues they come to realize the cases are related – to each other and to a traitorous atrocity from the war years. The villain is as sly and ruthless as they come. Can they discover the villain? Will they catch him before he escapes?

This was a fun and interesting read with the villain(s) about as vile as they come. One thing I really always enjoy in these books is the Author’s Notes. I know – right? The author always bases the books on some set of scientific inventions, etc. that was happening at the time and we always learn so much. I love that! Then, she always explains in the Author’s Notes where she deviated from fact – and she shares more facts. For me, it is always like getting dessert after having a delicious dinner.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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