Scan barcode
A review by sandlynn
A Talent for Trickery by Alissa Johnson
4.0
Alissa Johnson’s A Talent for Trickery was published in 2015.
In this book, set in England of the 1870’s, we have a hero who was once a police inspector and is now a private investigator. Over the years, he inherited the title of Viscount and, because of a famous case “they solved,” his friends and colleagues, who appear in this story, were knighted.
When the story opens, Owen Renderwell (the Viscount) and two of his colleagues have made their way to the country home of Charlotte Walker-Bales and her family. They have reason to believe that Charlotte and her two siblings can help them solve the murder of a “shady lady” in London because their deceased father once was a master thief who interacted with these same people. In fact, the father left behind numerous encrypted journals outlining his crimes which might be relevant to their current case. What lies behind all this is that Renderwell was involved in the case that led to the death of Charlotte’s father and Charlotte and he have a history together — not all good but definitely involving a mutual attraction. Furthermore, Charlotte herself has an infamous background helping her father in his illegal pursuits.
This story reads very much like a sexy version of a British cozy. Almost all the action takes place at a country estate and felt very claustrophobic to this reader — which might be the point. In took me a while to get into the story, but once the action picked up, I was definitely engaged. It’s very different for an historical, but I had mixed feelings about it. I think there was too much time spent in peoples’ heads and not enough action. (I can’t believe I’m saying this.)
I would give it a B.
In this book, set in England of the 1870’s, we have a hero who was once a police inspector and is now a private investigator. Over the years, he inherited the title of Viscount and, because of a famous case “they solved,” his friends and colleagues, who appear in this story, were knighted.
When the story opens, Owen Renderwell (the Viscount) and two of his colleagues have made their way to the country home of Charlotte Walker-Bales and her family. They have reason to believe that Charlotte and her two siblings can help them solve the murder of a “shady lady” in London because their deceased father once was a master thief who interacted with these same people. In fact, the father left behind numerous encrypted journals outlining his crimes which might be relevant to their current case. What lies behind all this is that Renderwell was involved in the case that led to the death of Charlotte’s father and Charlotte and he have a history together — not all good but definitely involving a mutual attraction. Furthermore, Charlotte herself has an infamous background helping her father in his illegal pursuits.
This story reads very much like a sexy version of a British cozy. Almost all the action takes place at a country estate and felt very claustrophobic to this reader — which might be the point. In took me a while to get into the story, but once the action picked up, I was definitely engaged. It’s very different for an historical, but I had mixed feelings about it. I think there was too much time spent in peoples’ heads and not enough action. (I can’t believe I’m saying this.)
I would give it a B.