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A review by jackiehorne
Lady Be Good by Meredith Duran
3.0
Read this back in the summer, but never seemed to have written up my review. Perhaps because I found myself unexpectedly disappointed by this, a rare occurrence for me with Duran.
The storyline for LADY BE GOOD, and its characters, seemed far more conventional than Duran's usual fare. Kit Palmer has returned from India a war hero, a role he must perform constantly in public, which he despises. Especially as he was captured and tortured by a Russian general, Bolkhov, who holds Kit responsible for the death of his wives and children during wartime. But instead of killing him, the general vows to inflict similar pain on Kit by going after his family. At the start of the book, then, Kit is convinced that Bolkhov has killed his brother, and will soon threaten his sister and mother.
The only clue to Bolkhov's whereabouts lies in the hand of Everleigh's Auction House, which leads Kit to Lilah Marshall, a "hostess" at the house. Born poor and Irish in London, Lilah vowed with her sister that they would pull themselves free of the slums and of the life of crime which they were brought up to pursue. But Lilah's uncle still has a hold on her, and forces her to steal some papers from Everleigh's on his behalf. In the midst of which theft she is discovered by Kit. Who then blackmails her into working for him in his efforts to uncover the whereabouts of Bolkhov.
This one fell flat for me, because there didn't seem to be much keeping Kit and Lilah apart, emotion-wise; the conflict between them was all related to plot. And because the "My family is being threatened by a lunatic" type of plot isn't one that I find very appealing, especially outside of romantic suspense. And because the long middle section of the book, set at a country manor outside London, didn't keep the threat present and thus lacked tension.
I did appreciate that though...
The storyline for LADY BE GOOD, and its characters, seemed far more conventional than Duran's usual fare. Kit Palmer has returned from India a war hero, a role he must perform constantly in public, which he despises. Especially as he was captured and tortured by a Russian general, Bolkhov, who holds Kit responsible for the death of his wives and children during wartime. But instead of killing him, the general vows to inflict similar pain on Kit by going after his family. At the start of the book, then, Kit is convinced that Bolkhov has killed his brother, and will soon threaten his sister and mother.
The only clue to Bolkhov's whereabouts lies in the hand of Everleigh's Auction House, which leads Kit to Lilah Marshall, a "hostess" at the house. Born poor and Irish in London, Lilah vowed with her sister that they would pull themselves free of the slums and of the life of crime which they were brought up to pursue. But Lilah's uncle still has a hold on her, and forces her to steal some papers from Everleigh's on his behalf. In the midst of which theft she is discovered by Kit. Who then blackmails her into working for him in his efforts to uncover the whereabouts of Bolkhov.
This one fell flat for me, because there didn't seem to be much keeping Kit and Lilah apart, emotion-wise; the conflict between them was all related to plot. And because the "My family is being threatened by a lunatic" type of plot isn't one that I find very appealing, especially outside of romantic suspense. And because the long middle section of the book, set at a country manor outside London, didn't keep the threat present and thus lacked tension.
I did appreciate that