What to Read This Summer
July Edition
A Lark's Gambit by Lynn Messina-- Regency Romance Cozy Mystery
Thank you NetGalley, Lynn Messina and PotatoWorks Press for the free digital review copy. All opinions in this review are my own and not affected by the giveaway.
Trigger warnings:
mentions of rape
sexual assault
victim blaming
drug use
Is that... who?! Verity Lark kissing the Marquess of Ware at a Venetian breakfast? GASP! It's a good thing Mr. Twaddle-Thum can not report on this incident but Lord Colson Hardwicke sees all! This is what he gets for trying to be strong and delays visiting Bethel Street to see Verity first thing upon his return to London after 11 days away. Flash back a week. Hardwicke is away and Verity is determined to be more productive. Twaddle-Thum learns through the network that Verity's former employer, Lord Stechney, is suing his wife for divorce on the grounds of adultery, she suspects with plans to marry a young debutante and secure himself an heir. Say nothing of HIS lecherous ways, gentlemen are not expected to be faithful. The press will forgive HIM but eviscerate Lady Stechney. While Lady S is not blameless, Verity can't let Lord Stechney's reputation go unscathed. She is determined to find something else he is into that will ruin him. While Twaddling, Verity finds herself outside the fishmonger who was suspected of smuggling opium poppy seed pods. It can't hurt for someone to investigate HIM either. Under one of her many aliases, Verity soon discovers an illegal opium parlor for select clientele. While pretending to be a young gentleman partaking of opium, she spies a familiar figure she has been trying to avoid. She feels obligated to follow this person and beaten at her own game, is drawn into yet another investigation. A scientist has died, presumably accidentally, as a result of his experiments but his friends are not convinced. Soon she finds herself investigating with the unlikeliest partner! Not to mention a teal-eyed Lord who makes her feel giddy.
This story didn't wow me the way I had hoped it would. I was eager to learn about this poppy smuggling fishmonger but the mystery wasn't much of a mystery and it wasn't balanced with enough romance for my personal tastes. There are several plots to keep track of but no evidence of murder for a long time and the investigation kind of meanders. Colson was missing for way too much of the story and when he appeared, he was largely silent. It was mostly Verity and the Marquess doing the investigating. The swoony bits are towards the end and Hardwicke doesn't say much, he doesn't have to, it's all in Verity's head. There are a couple of anachronistic words that take me out of the Regency period. "Hello" is American and didn't appear until the next decade in writing and not verbally until the telephone later in the century. Mauve or mauvine is a synthetic dye color, created accidentally by William Henry Perkin in 1859 while trying to find a medicine to treat malaria. It was a favorite of Queen Victoria. Scratch that- Wikipedia says the word was in use in Verity's time but rare. Crikey sounds too modern Australian. The Online Etymology Dictionary says it dates to 1838 and it's not in the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. One other error - half-boots are women's shoes! That's a dead giveaway that the foppish St. Cleer is not actually a gentleman. Perhaps the attendant knows this and is just paid well enough not to ask questions or tell tales?
I thought we knew who and why and it was just a matter of Verity getting proof and a confession but there was a twist I didn't see coming. I did like how the treatment of women and the laws that kept women in an inferior position were highlighted as part of the plot. It's not gratuitous or hit you over the head but it's there in Verity's thoughts and Delphine's worries. It's there in Hardwicke's thoughts as he contemplates a future with Verity and it's there in the plot.
The ton's attitude towards the powerless is what drives Verity. She does what she does to bring down the high and mighty, all without access to the law. The ton don't see anyone who isn't worth seeing. They don't consider anyone except themselves, their name, their reputation, their families. Lord Sidmouth doesn't even remember Verity-as-footman preventing a massacre. Even Grint, the under secretary, doesn't go out of his way to help right wrongs or fight injustice. He operates within the letter of the law and no more. The law is biased towards the Lords and his attitude is why bother when they're just going to get away with it? Yet Verity has proven again and again that the high and mighty can fall if their sins are exposed to the world. Hence her dual identity as journalist Robert Lark and Mr. Twaddle-Thum. Verity is determined to fight back no matter what life throws in her way. There are circumstances that were set in motion when she was born and are beyond her control. She shrugs that off and carries on.
It's not so easy to keep calm and carry on after this adventure. I thought Verity was rather silly and stupid in her investigation. I figured the Marquess was at the opium parlor for the same reason she was and why she didn't think of that, I don't know. He IS a Marquess and his son IS a spy so it would stand to reason that his son got the job because of his father's connections and if the Marquess has those kinds of connections, then perhaps he works for the Home Office too somehow? OK I was a little off there but she should have thought of that. Verity acts far too recklessly and makes a rookie mistake that heroines TSTL make all the time. It nearly costs her her dignity and her life. One scene was far too much for my tastes, especially for this kind of light novel. My heart was in my throat and I was worried Verity wouldn't easily be able to extricate herself from this perilous situation. I was mad about how she got out of trouble.
Colson Hardwicke is utterly besotted with Verity. He understands her very well and is trying hard to give her the space she needs to be independent and think about what their future together might look like - or not. He's making plans to work within the law to allow her to be as independent as possible. (He hasn't told her yet). He has a very calm temperament and accepts that things are not always as they appear. I like him almost as much as Kesgrave! Verity is very much in love too but she won't admit it. She's funny when she tries to outrun her emotions. She is fiercely independent and determined not to give herself up. She's afraid of a future with Hardwicke and secretly afraid of one without him. She thinks everything is more fun when he's around. He makes her giddy inside and he understands what she's thinking without speaking about it. They're true partners. He has her back even when she thinks she's alone. He gets along well with Delphine and Freddie. He belongs as part of their family group as if they've always been a quartet. Verity is also still keeping a part of herself closed off to Hadwicke but her defenses are crumbling! She's far more vulnerable in this novel. Between her misadventure and her romance, she has a lot of bottled emotions that come pouring out. She's more used to being a fighter, being the strong one who protects the weak but there's nothing wrong with letting someone else care for you once in awhile, if they're the right person. Hardwicke is indeed the right person.
Of course Delphine sees through Verity's pretense. Delphine is very worried about Verity. Delphine wants to care for her best friend and help Verity overcome her demons. Delphine would be happy keeping everyone she loves wrapped up in cotton wool safe and home. Things she can't control make her anxious. She's a good friend, not berating Verity for something Verity is already beating herself up over. Verity needs to accept Hardwicke so Delphine can marry Freddie and have babies. Robert Lark may not be Verity's older brother but she does have a brother in Freddie. He knows she's stubborn, independent and reckless. He doesn't try to control Verity's behavior and is as eager for a story that will sell papers as she is. But, Freddie is there when he needs to be, a calming, comforting brother who loves his sister.
The Marquess is far more astute than Verity realized early on in her opium investigation and she's far more self-involved than she would admit. The Marquess would prefer Verity be more biddable and not engage in dangerous activities but he is also very much aware than his son has rejected all the suitable simpering misses the Marchioness has thrown at her younger son. However, the Marquess is blinded by class prejudice and loyalty to old school ties. He refuses to admit an old friend, one he hasn't really been close to in years, could be a murderer. Verity, of course, knows, from long experience, the upper classes are more likely to be villains - even if it's merely representing a pocket borough like Frothmere does or neglecting the poor. Of course Bea knows better than anyone how many murderers come from the <i>ton</i> and everyone seems to be aware of that thanks to Twaddle-Thum. The Marquess is a stubborn old coot but he learns and grows as the investigation continues. Unlike most peers, he wants his son to be happy and recognizes that what HE wants is not what's best for his son. Unlike most peers, the Marquess is willing to admit he's wrong and changes his mind. He's still grumpy and high and mighty but he's old. Inside he's still young at heart and game for an adventure.
Lord Samuel Ingelthorpe was a well-respected brilliant scientist working on a formula that would reduce salts from the opium poppy seed to make into a powder to induce medically assisted sleep. (Obviously not a great idea given what we know now but in 1816 they lacked effective medicine. One character does fear a widespread addiction and thinks the substance should be controlled by the government. This character is not entirely wrong but the motive is questionable.) Inglethorpe was working on his formula when he died. But did he die by accident from taking too much of his medicine or was he killed? A brilliant scientist is not going to die from his own experiments - not for years anyway. Even the Marquess can see that! Plus Inglethorpe's journal is missing and surely that means he was killed for he never would have parted with it in his life. This scientist was a good man who wanted to do a public service for as many people as possible. His death is a tragedy and a real blow to scientific advancement of medicine.
Lord Stechford is evil. Pure evil. He is imbued with so many privileges he thinks he is immune to consequences. He doesn't even think about consequences. To him, women are property, playthings and body parts for his own personal use. He's trying to divorce his wife on the grounds of adultery yet he's a disgusting, lecherous man who thinks nothing of terrorizing maids in his employ, raping scullery maids because why not? They're dirt beneath his boots and cheating on his wife. He has the law on his side. Lord Stechford has created a situation where his wife is eager for love and starved for attention. Her lover, Lieutenant David Herbert, is young, good looking, attentive and wealthy. While Lady Stechford has turned a blind eye to her husband's abuse of the female staff, she doesn't deserve a husband like that and she does deserve a lover who is good to her. I am so happy Verity is working to bring down this evil man but so outraged he'll get away with the divorce, even if it costs him a fortune. He'll be free to marry Miss Dinsmore. Miss Dinsmore is young and rich. She seems more sensible than her mother. Her mother is blinded by titles and can't see how miserable her daughter would be married to Lord Stechford ... or any other gentleman of the ton other than those who are already taken.
Strunk, the fishmonger, is up to no good. He has already been spotted smuggling opium poppy seeds in sardines (now trout, thanks to further research on behalf of Lynn Messina) and now he's smuggling them OUT? He's also in charge of a very large secret making him very wealthy indeed. It's not clear where he's getting the raw materials though. Is someone financing his operation or is it that easy and cheap to buy opium poppies and opium?
Rupert Frothmere is a minor MP representing a pocket borough on behalf of his patron, Viscount Wolverton. Frothmere has little power and influence but is considered good ton. He was once school friends with Lord Hardwicke's father, the Marquess of Ware. Verity suspects Frothmere is up to something. She has it on good authority Frothmere is in need of money. His lavish Venetian Breakfast certainly must cost a pretty penny. Is Frothermore a villain or really stupid or perhaps a stupid villain? He acts dumb so maybe he is innocent but he was in the right place at the right time to lead Verity to the missing notebook. But did he steal it or did he blab to someone else? Perhaps someone in the Home Office stole his idea? Or maybe it was his wife? Wives are always more clever and more aware of their circumstances than their husbands would believe.
Lester Hopkins, the farmer, is involved in the intrigue somehow. He has come into money recently to help fix up his house. Who paid him? Interestingly, he can't recall specific details and can only provide a general description of the man. Curiously other farmers have a limited recollection as well. Can Verity figure out who this mysterious lawyer is, find him and trace the money back to some Lord or another or to the fishmonger and then someone higher up? Is Lord Wolverton really involved? Hatch, a man of business, is mixed up in this somehow. Is he acting on behalf of his employer, pretending he is or acting for someone else or perhaps he's innocent? Nicholas Almond, a young apothecary's apprentice is certainly complicit. He's more afraid of his father than the law but also eager to prove himself to his father. What does he know and will he tell all in a court of law?
Lord Sidmouth is an idiot. He's a rattle who can't keep his mouth shut. He's a Lord who could care less about the little guy even though the title was created for him. He doesn't notice those who are beneath him and is best friends with the disgusting Lord Stechney.
A lot of the humor comes from the domestic situation. Lucy, Delphine and Verity's maid, has had it with the revolving door of politicians, Dukes, Duchesses, Dowager Duchesses and villains. She has insisted they hire a new servant, a footman, George. George's origins are mysterious, he doesn't speak much but he's willing to work hard and defend the household. Lucy keeps airing her own grievances disguised as looking out for George's welfare. Now the ladies, Freddie and the servants have frequent Round Table discussions about the running of the household. Cook is uncomfortable, Verity is bored, Freddie is amused and Delphine takes it all seriously. It sounds like Lucy is running the household with an iron fist in conjunction with Delphine's velvet glove. They're funny and yes the round tables are boring but necessary.
While I didn't love this book as much as some of the others, (I missed Bea and Kesgrave), this is still one of my favorite series. I look forward to learning what Verity gets up to next.
