A Poisoned Season -- Tasha Alexander
I know I've said this before, but I'm fond of repetition*: Historical mysteries with a dash of (mostly) chaste romance (which makes the smooching all the more swoony) are another component of the slow-going but tried-and-true antidote to my periodic reading slumps. So I was jazzed to discover that my library now has the second, third and fourth books in the Lady Emily Ashton series.
A Poisoned Season begins:
There are several things one can depend upon during the London Season: an overwhelming barrage of invitations, friends whose loyalties turn suspect, and at least one overzealous suitor. This year was to prove no exception.
What Lady Emily doesn't mention in her introductory paragraph is that this particular Season also features:
• A man who claims to be the descendant of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI -- and who may have plans to reclaim the throne. (Obviously, many mothers are throwing their daughters at his head. And less obviously but very quickly clear -- he's AWFUL. In EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE.)
• A mysterious cat burglar who has a penchant for items that once belonged to Marie Antoinette... and who develops a lurrrve for Our Intrepid Heroine.
• Murrrderrr.
Emily, of course, wants to get to the bottom of the various mysteries -- partly because she enjoys detecting, but also because of the little bet she's made with the dashing Colin Hargreaves. If she doesn't unmask the jewel thief by the end of the Season... well, let's just say that if she sticks to the terms of the bet, she'll no longer be the head of her household.
While I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the first book in the series (both because Emily seemed more like a character and less like a person this time, and because there was a distinct lack of swoon-worthy moments**), it was still big fun. And I did enjoy seeing how Emily's forays into Scandalous Territory caused Polite Society to Take Note and Take Action. I like that Tasha Alexander provides some amount of realism in that way (even though, as other similar series have proved, she could probably totally get away without it). Also, Emily's mother had some especially great scenes (and showed that she is much more than she'd previously seemed), and and I'm just desperately hoping that the third book is available.
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*As long as it's me doing the repeating. If we're talking about Pillars of the Earth, then, no, I am not a fan of repetition. Yes, I am still listening to it in the car. It's just taking me a REALLY LONG TIME to get through it because I keep getting so annoyed with Ken Follett's tendency to say everything fourteen times that I switch over to the freaking business news instead. (Which should say something about my level of annoyance.) Also, that rape scene? Ew. I really hope something terrible happens to William Hamleigh.
**There were SOME. Just not many.
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Previously:
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Book source: Library copy.
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