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shropgirl's review against another edition
4.0
This is book six of the Wrexford and Sloane mysteries and the cuple are now married and Raven & Hawk are adjusting to their new lives.
Receiving an invitation to stay at her brother's sister-in-law and her husband, Charlotte and her family feel obliged to attend despite not really wanting to conform to the dictates of society which they will be bound to do so.
At the country estate they find that their hosts are trustees of the estate for their nephew, a mixed race child whose parents have died. His parentage is the cause of some racial tensions within the family. However, prior to Charlotte and Wrexford making the trip, Wrexford, Raven and Hawk discover a body floating in the Serpentine. A black gentleman, the body is identified as a well known inventor who it seems has managed to create, what in effect is a precursor to a machine gun. The blueprints have gone missing. Further enquiries establish that the dead man is the mixed race child's uncle. This probably is too much of a coincidence for this reader but Andrea Penrose needs this base to further the plot. A meeting by various heads of state with the Prince Regent and his gala means that there are plenty of suspects for the murder and the taking of the stolen plans.
Despite reservations of getting involved in another murder investigation and thus risk the security of the family it is of course inevitable that Wrexford and Sloane must do so.
I really enjoy this series. There is enough historical fact to provide interest, the characters are well drawn and the Wrexford contingent are now well developed, plausible and believable. The boys, Raven and Hawk are growing up and this too is explored in the novel as Raven begins to push against the boundaries of authority.
The solution was good, tension was raised and the plot moved along at speed.
The young nephew now named Falcon also becomes part of the group and his ability with mechanics and his breeding are an added dimension to Raven and Hawk moving away from their initial origins to a place in society. I am looking forward to the seventh book in the series but it seems that I will have to wait for publication. These books can be read as standalones but ideally they should be read in sequence. High recommended.
Receiving an invitation to stay at her brother's sister-in-law and her husband, Charlotte and her family feel obliged to attend despite not really wanting to conform to the dictates of society which they will be bound to do so.
At the country estate they find that their hosts are trustees of the estate for their nephew, a mixed race child whose parents have died. His parentage is the cause of some racial tensions within the family. However, prior to Charlotte and Wrexford making the trip, Wrexford, Raven and Hawk discover a body floating in the Serpentine. A black gentleman, the body is identified as a well known inventor who it seems has managed to create, what in effect is a precursor to a machine gun. The blueprints have gone missing. Further enquiries establish that the dead man is the mixed race child's uncle. This probably is too much of a coincidence for this reader but Andrea Penrose needs this base to further the plot. A meeting by various heads of state with the Prince Regent and his gala means that there are plenty of suspects for the murder and the taking of the stolen plans.
Despite reservations of getting involved in another murder investigation and thus risk the security of the family it is of course inevitable that Wrexford and Sloane must do so.
I really enjoy this series. There is enough historical fact to provide interest, the characters are well drawn and the Wrexford contingent are now well developed, plausible and believable. The boys, Raven and Hawk are growing up and this too is explored in the novel as Raven begins to push against the boundaries of authority.
The solution was good, tension was raised and the plot moved along at speed.
The young nephew now named Falcon also becomes part of the group and his ability with mechanics and his breeding are an added dimension to Raven and Hawk moving away from their initial origins to a place in society. I am looking forward to the seventh book in the series but it seems that I will have to wait for publication. These books can be read as standalones but ideally they should be read in sequence. High recommended.
sarahlreadseverything's review against another edition
3.0
I love this series, but this wasn't my favourite entry. The entire cast of characters was as brilliant as ever, but after this many books and a marriage, I think I wanted to see more of Charlotte and Wrex working *together* rather than most of the scenes being separate.
caraem3's review
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ssejig's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Charlotte and Wrexford are married. She and the boys as well as the maid have moved into his house. But that doesn't keep them from finding another dead body. This time it's that of a Black man who is found floating in a lake. The man ends up being not only someone who has developed a way to make guns more efficient but is also the relative of Charlotte's brother's brother-in-law's nephew, a young lord. He is currently the ward of his uncle but Charlotte and Wrexford can tell he is not being treated well among his own family. Luckily, Peregrine (another bird!) makes friends with Raven and Hawk.
The three boys will play an important part in helping the adults solve this murder.
Also, another story line is finally starting to get resolved with Cordelia and Kit.
The three boys will play an important part in helping the adults solve this murder.
Also, another story line is finally starting to get resolved with Cordelia and Kit.
acmack's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I love these books. They're not intellectually nourishing, but they've been great travel reads. This one tries to take up the issue of race in Regency Era London, and while it's far from perfect, the author is clearly trying to make a point and I can appreciate that. Her work has so far been very attuned to women's rights and classism, and this seemed to parallel that trend.
ewil6681's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
esdeecarlson's review against another edition
3.0
[This title was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review]
3 stars
After the end of the previous installment in the Wrexford and Sloane series, I was somewhat hoping that this book would give us a bit of Wrex and Charlotte’s wedding day (with the colorful assemblage of guests that must have involved), or the growing pains of a blended household. Instead, we slipped right back into business as usual with the eclectic clan and a new murder to solve.
One of the best parts of this series is the way that it plays with the cutting-edge science and technology of the day, and I think that this particular title did that well, the murdered man having been an inventor and the mystery hinging on his plans for a new invention of war. As there’s the Grand Peace celebrations going on, bringing international politics into the fray as representatives from various nations all seem to have something to gain from the murdered man’s work, which was a very nice touch.
I think at this point in the series our cast of characters is getting quite large, and I would have appreciated if we only touched on those peripheral members of the gang whose expertise would be most helpful in the case; however, Penrose seemed determined to make sure that everyone was included, and so a fair bit of the text is spent with side characters I had to remember from previous novels who would have been better suited by a brief cameo, for series super-fans, but who when squashed into the main plot felt rather superfluous, like too many cooks in the kitchen.
That said, I did absolutely love the newest addition to the cast, young Lord Lampson, an orphaned child of color despised by his well-to-do white relatives and unofficially adopted by the Wrexford/Sloane family; I hope that Falcon (Lord Lampson’s nickname) becomes a permanent addition to the household as an official ward alongside the Weasels.
I found the first three quarters or so of the novel to stand up fairly well against preceding titles, if moving a touch slow, but the climax, for me, fell apart. It involves a complicated choreography of pyrotechnics and watercraft that utterly lost me, and I didn’t really understand why things played out as they did. I’m unsure whether the ending was unsuccessful due to the author’s poor description of a complicated mapping-out of many moving parts or my own deficiency in reading that kind of action scene, but as far as I can tell the climax aimed for fast-paced suspense but in actuality took me, as a reader, out of the action and made me lose interest in what had up until then been a decent mystery.
So, thanks to the ending and the cluttered cast, this was not the most successful of Penrose’s novels, but I think it does hold up as a worthwhile read for anyone who’s made it this far in the series and is attached to the characters.
3 stars
After the end of the previous installment in the Wrexford and Sloane series, I was somewhat hoping that this book would give us a bit of Wrex and Charlotte’s wedding day (with the colorful assemblage of guests that must have involved), or the growing pains of a blended household. Instead, we slipped right back into business as usual with the eclectic clan and a new murder to solve.
One of the best parts of this series is the way that it plays with the cutting-edge science and technology of the day, and I think that this particular title did that well, the murdered man having been an inventor and the mystery hinging on his plans for a new invention of war. As there’s the Grand Peace celebrations going on, bringing international politics into the fray as representatives from various nations all seem to have something to gain from the murdered man’s work, which was a very nice touch.
I think at this point in the series our cast of characters is getting quite large, and I would have appreciated if we only touched on those peripheral members of the gang whose expertise would be most helpful in the case; however, Penrose seemed determined to make sure that everyone was included, and so a fair bit of the text is spent with side characters I had to remember from previous novels who would have been better suited by a brief cameo, for series super-fans, but who when squashed into the main plot felt rather superfluous, like too many cooks in the kitchen.
That said, I did absolutely love the newest addition to the cast, young Lord Lampson, an orphaned child of color despised by his well-to-do white relatives and unofficially adopted by the Wrexford/Sloane family; I hope that Falcon (Lord Lampson’s nickname) becomes a permanent addition to the household as an official ward alongside the Weasels.
I found the first three quarters or so of the novel to stand up fairly well against preceding titles, if moving a touch slow, but the climax, for me, fell apart. It involves a complicated choreography of pyrotechnics and watercraft that utterly lost me, and I didn’t really understand why things played out as they did. I’m unsure whether the ending was unsuccessful due to the author’s poor description of a complicated mapping-out of many moving parts or my own deficiency in reading that kind of action scene, but as far as I can tell the climax aimed for fast-paced suspense but in actuality took me, as a reader, out of the action and made me lose interest in what had up until then been a decent mystery.
So, thanks to the ending and the cluttered cast, this was not the most successful of Penrose’s novels, but I think it does hold up as a worthwhile read for anyone who’s made it this far in the series and is attached to the characters.
abbyjennhm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rose1609's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0