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Not only do I get to review a recent read today, I also get to tell you about the author and the Cozy Up with a Good Book Giveaway to celebrate the release of this title. Release date is today, December 7th! Keep reading for my thoughts on the book, and how to enter the giveaway!
The Debutante's Code by Erica Vetsch - Lady Juliette Thorndike returns home to London after several years of school in Switzerland, and is dismayed to find that her parents are not home to greet her. Her Uncle Bertie explains that they've been called away to their estate on urgent business, so Juliette begins her Season without her parents to guide her. All her dreams of a warm family relationship as she gets reacquainted with her beloved, but distant, parents are dashed and she feels abandoned and alone. She's not sure whether to be relieved or angry when she discovers that her parents have been living a double life - they are government spies, and it's a family legacy, and she can choose to be a part of it.
Daniel Swann is a Bow Street detective, and finally has been put in charge of a case, and needs to prove himself. A daring art theft. At first he thinks it should be a fairly easy case, but then another art piece goes missing, an art dealer is found murdered, and one puzzling piece after another keeps leading him back to a lovely debutante. Lady Juliette is charming and unusual, and there's definitely more to her than meets the eye, but is that because she's involved in the thefts somehow?
The lead characters are both coming to terms with the secrets their parents have kept from them while trying to forget their own path in the world. Juliette displays courage, determination, and kindness, and she takes some bold risks that Daniel thinks are foolish. Daniel has only until his next birthday to prove his worth to Bow Street, so even though he is focused and intelligent, he feels the pressure and wonders whether he should be prepared to go another direction. As the two cross paths time and again during the investigation, Juliette realizes she's under suspicion and wonders how she can fulfill her mission and keep her secrets - especially from the very perceptive detective who always seems to be nearby.
I love this clever mystery story, with delightful characters and so many twists and turns to the plot. Juliette wrestles with what it means to live with honesty and integrity while being involved in a profession that demands deception and perhaps even crime. Her questions and her mixed feelings about her parents' choices and integrity are real. I also found the anxiety she felt about the shifting expectations for her season and who she could trust to be compelling. "Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes" is indeed an apt description of the vibe! It also reminds me of the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series by Anne Perry. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries series!
About the Book:
Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes in this new Regency mystery series
Newly returned from finishing school, Lady Juliette Thorndike is ready to debut in London society. Due to her years away, she hasn't spent much time with her parents, and sees them only as the flighty, dilettante couple the other nobles love. But when they disappear, she discovers she never really knew them at all. They've been living double lives as government spies - and they're only the latest in a long history of espionage that is the family's legacy.
Now Lady Juliette is determined to continue their work. Mentored by her uncle, she plunges into the dangerous world of spies. From the glittering ballrooms of London to the fox hunts, regattas, and soirees of country high society, she must chase down hidden clues, solve the mysterious code her parents left behind, and stay out of danger. All the while, she has to keep her endeavors a secret from her best friend and her suitors - not to mention the nosy, irritatingly handsome Bow Street runner, who suspects her of a daring theft.
Can Lady Juliette outwit her enemies and complete her parents' last mission?
Erica Vetsch is a New York Times best-selling and ACFW Carol Award-winning author. She is a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota with her husband, who she claims is both her total opposite and soul mate.
Vetsch is the author of many novellas and novels, including the popular Serendipity & Secrets Regency series and the new Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery series.
Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she's not writing fiction she's planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks.
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by Anna Lee Huber
