Barbara’s rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Lord Julian Mysteries #1
Publication Date: 8/22/23
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 268

I have long been a fan of Grace Burrowes, and have always eagerly awaited her next release. While I was not a fan of her previous mystery series, The Lady Violet Mysteries, I definitely wanted to try this new offering. I was not disappointed. This book had everything I had hoped it would – except for an out-and-out romance, but I hope that will come soon. It is a wonderful blend of suspense, mystery, and historical detail – with a hint of possible romance in the future. It was a wonderful, page-flipping, couldn’t-put-it-down, what will happen next, edge-of-your-chair kind of read! To tell you how engrossing it was, at midnight on release day, the eBook dropped onto my Kindle. I thought I’d just take a quick peek. Mistake? Maybe. I started reading and couldn’t stop – I read it in one sitting – starting at midnight. I guess it is a good thing I am retired!

The story follows Lord Julian Caldicott, heir to a duchy, gifted intelligence officer, and former prisoner of the famed French torturer, Girard. Julian has returned home wounded in both mind and body – under a cloud of suspicion that he is a traitor. Did he break under torture and tell Girard anything? Since his memory fails him, he doesn’t know and it tortures him throughout the book. Julian has lived as a recluse since his return to England – in a dark house with closed curtains. Part of that is to protect himself from the cruel taunts of the ton and part is to accommodate his injured eyesight.

So, how did the reclusive, sunlight-averse, people-avoiding, former soldier end up at a house party attended by very unfriendly (to him) guests? Well, he has a very sly and wily Godmother who thinks it is time for him to stick his nose out the door. Julian knows she’s up to something, but he thinks he can just agree to escort her to the door, drop her off, and then return to London. Silly boy!

Julian is hoodwinked into spending the night – a single night – and heading back to London the next day. When untoward things begin to happen, and the fingers point to Julian, he knows he has to slink back to London labeled a coward as well as a traitor or he can stay and challenge those who want to further damage him and his reputation. Fight or flight? You’ll just have to read the book to see!

I’ve always loved the way this author writes her characters because they are always realistic, engaging, complex, and vulnerable. Julian struggles with so many guilts; so many unknowns. Is he the traitor the ton believes him to be? The guilt about not being able to save his brother, Harry, is enough to bring him to his knees, but when you add the physical suffering, the memory flashbacks, and the traitor label, it is a miracle he can function at all.

I highly recommend this book filled with honorable, strong characters as well as dastardly characters who care about nothing except themselves and their own gain. You’ll be parsing through those characters and figuring out which camp each fits into while also trying to figure out who the true villain of the piece is. You’ll also meet Miss Hyperia (Perry) West who had an ‘understanding’ with Julian before he left for the war. Julian ended that understanding when he returned – for her own good, of course. She didn’t need to be tainted by association with him.

Just a BTW. Girard is featured in the Captive Hearts series – The Traitor. You’ll also get a short visit with Devlin St. James at a time prior to the setting of his book, The Soldier, from the Windham series. No, you don’t have to have read those books, this is a totally stand-alone book. I just thought you’d enjoy knowing they had cameos in this book (along with the Duchess of Windham) if you have already read them.

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