Murder
Mystery
Late
18th Century
Isle
of Wight
This
is the third Drusilla Davanish story in which our heroine plays host to two of
William Pitt's spy masters at her inherited stately home on the Isle of Wight.
A number of spies in France have been compromised by the actions of an unknown
double agent. And one of the spies in danger, Radleigh Reevers, is the man that
Drusilla loves/doesn't love. It's complicated…
A
messenger is sent to France to warn Reevers, but he is murdered, supposedly by
smugglers, before he even leaves the island. Needless to say, Drusilla refuses
to believe that he wasn't murdered by this new traitor, whoever he happens to
be. But, following on from a previous volume, there is also a plot to kidnap Pitt and take him to France where he will be put on trial and
executed.
I
have to say that there was a lot about this book that I didn't like. It was a
little too short – just two hundred pages – and the title is a little
misleading: yes, one of the characters was incarcerated but they were only
there for a chapter or two and never visited by any of the other characters.
There was also a number of turns of phrase that were repeated too many times,
too many aunts/uncles/cousins/godmothers, especially those who took no
significant part in the story and a few too many wild assumptions with no basis
of proof. I admit that I may have suffered from not having read any of the
previous stories, but it is pretty much a stand-alone as details are filled in
at the appropriate times.
And
yet ….
I have to say that I enjoyed this read despite my misgivings above. The
atmosphere of the Isle of Wight is captured very well, the relationship between
Drusilla and Radleigh quite captivating and there are some very good cameos,
most notably from Drusilla's faithful groom, John Mudd. The plot twists and
turns as a good mystery should and suspects are falling over themselves to get
'into the frame'. In actual fact, in my view, it wouldn't make a bad film or
mini-series.
Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds
© Richard Tearle
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