India Blackby Carol K. Carr
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9780425238660
Series: A Madam of Espionage Mystery #1
Publication Date: January 4, 2011
Pages: 296
Genre: Historical, Mystery
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
I needed a break from all the new, experimental reads and grabbed this off my shelf to re-read. My original thoughts were succinct:
Excellent first novel. I was amused and enthused from the first chapter. The book is categorised as an “historical mystery” but there really isn’t much mystery involved. A lot of the story reads a bit like keystone cops play spy, but truly, I found the book entertaining and the characters interesting enough for me to care what happened to them. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Mostly, that hasn’t changed; I originally gave it 4 stars, but on re-reading I nudged it down to 3.5 stars. There were a few verbose expository passages I found myself skimming; I found them mostly irrelevant to the plot and they felt like padding. But otherwise, it’s a highly irreverent spy adventure and entertaining in a way that only a sassy madam of a brothel MC can make it. High on humor, but historically accurate in its broad strokes. Where the fine details are (ie anachronisms), I couldn’t say; I’m pretty terrible at spotting any but the most egregious examples.
A bit of familiar fun that served as a quick palate cleanser before moving back into uncharted territory.