Point of Honour by Madeleine Robins
Ten years ago, Sarah Brereton, a young woman of quality, ran away with her brother’s fencing instructor. Her fencing instructor dead, she’s returned to England, and London, and set herself up as an inquiry agent, striving to avoid the normal (re: prostitution) fate of fallen women whose families won’t take them back.
This is an alternate Regency England in which George III never recovered from his initial bout of madness in 1788, and Queen Charlotte became Regent. Beyond that, Robins sticks to actual history as much as possible, using the shift in history to focus on the status and lives of fallen women of quality.
Hired by a man named Trux to find an antique fan for his employer, whose father gave it to a mistress over twenty years ago. The writing style is reminiscent of the style of the time (and the opening lines are deliberately spun out of the famous opening lines of Pride and Prejudice), but accessible, and while it’s set up as a mystery, it eventually spins into a fullblown adventure with a swashbuckling heroine.
A very fun romp (though I’m rather annoyed that as is typical, women can only have sex with hot rich men with a stated intention of no commitment if the man is actually one of the murderers.) and I’m disappointed that Robins apparently only has three books and isn’t writing more.
This is an alternate Regency England in which George III never recovered from his initial bout of madness in 1788, and Queen Charlotte became Regent. Beyond that, Robins sticks to actual history as much as possible, using the shift in history to focus on the status and lives of fallen women of quality.
Hired by a man named Trux to find an antique fan for his employer, whose father gave it to a mistress over twenty years ago. The writing style is reminiscent of the style of the time (and the opening lines are deliberately spun out of the famous opening lines of Pride and Prejudice), but accessible, and while it’s set up as a mystery, it eventually spins into a fullblown adventure with a swashbuckling heroine.
A very fun romp (though I’m rather annoyed that as is typical, women can only have sex with hot rich men with a stated intention of no commitment if the man is actually one of the murderers.) and I’m disappointed that Robins apparently only has three books and isn’t writing more.