A Crimson Warningby Tasha Alexander
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780312661755
Series: Lady Emily Mystery #6
Publication Date: August 7, 2011
Pages: 352
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Mystery
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Newly returned to her home in Mayfair, Lady Emily Hargreaves is looking forward to enjoying the delights of the season. The delights, that is, as defined by her own eccentricities—reading The Aeneid, waltzing with her dashing husband, and joining the Women's Liberal Federation in the early stages of its campaign to win the vote for women. But an audacious vandal disturbs the peace in the capital city, splashing red paint on the neat edifices of the homes of London's elite. This mark, impossible to hide, presages the revelation of scandalous secrets, driving the hapless victims into disgrace, despair and even death. Soon, all of London high society is living in fear of learning who will be the next target, and Lady Emily and her husband, Colin, favorite agent of the crown, must uncover the identity and reveal the motives of the twisted mind behind it all before another innocent life is lost.
SO much better than the last one. Emily has stopped wallowing and is almost the same character I grew fond of in the first two books. She’s still a bit more obedient than I’d like, but I have to remember this is the Victorian age and no wife would get away with telling her husband to pull his head out of his ass.
Jeremy and Ivy are back in this book too. Ivy doesn’t do much for me either way, but I do love Jeremy’s wit and silliness. The author inserts journal entries from Ivy throughout the chapters that honestly added nothing to the story for me. She did this in her last book, using Emily’s mother-in-law’s journal, and that worked as a way of getting to know the woman in a way we wouldn’t have realistically been able to by relying on the narrative. But here… meh.
The plot though… the plot was good. I thoroughly enjoyed this story line and found it extremely relevant given society’s re-discovered fondness for public shaming. The mystery behind who was behind it all was done well enough; I neither knew who the culprit was nor was I surprised when it was revealed. The motivation was rather Machiavellian in the end and I enjoyed it.
This one has restored my enjoyment in the series; there are assuredly better examples of its kind out there, but so far this series is holding its own just fine.