didn't know if I would continue the series after the "revelation" in the last book, but still enjoyed this one. ( )

After the great boost the series achieved in volume 3, this book continues in the same vein. It opens with Hero Jarvis, daughter of Sebastian's powerful enemy, interviewing a young woman in the Magdalen House run by the Society of Friends (Quakers) to help prostitutes leave the trade. Hero is intrigued by the woman whose accent shows her to be of the same social background as Hero herself, rather than the poor women from city or country that she normally encounters in her research. Her goal is to write a paper to try to convince Parliament that women mainly go into prostitution through dire need, not because they are inherently lacking in morals as the conventional view would have it.

Disaster strikes as the building is invaded by murderous men who begin to kill everyone there. Showing her usual presence of mind, Hero manages to get herself and the young woman, who goes by the name of Rose, onto the roof and then jumps down onto one of the villains, knocking him out. She and Rose run and nearly escape, but as they near Hero's carriage, a shot rings out and Rose dies in Hero's arms. Hero decides to investigate the mass murder after the house is torched to conceal the atrocity and the authorities hush it up as a house fire despite the obvious wounds on the bodies. As her father forbids her to approach the Bow Street magistrate who would be in charge of investigation, she involves Sebastian instead.

There was plenty of action in this story, in which a complicated conspiracy was gradually revealed. Both Sebastian and Hero had to fight for their lives on more than one occasion, and Hero was a great foil for him with her superb competence, which includes being a good shot. Despite Sebastian's efforts to shield her, as a gentlewoman, from the nastier and more disturbing aspects of the case, she uncovers a lot of the facts for herself and handles her discoveries with equanimity. The one thing I wasn't so convinced by was the manner in which the author finally 'gets them together' - even facing certain death, it seemed a bit of a stretch. But otherwise, the setup for the series is all properly in place now, especially since, by the end of the book, his magistrate friend is also looking to be far better placed to help Sebastian in future. Not quite a full rating due to my reservations, but a solid 4 star read. ( )

This mystery was pretty good, but I'm definitely more invested in the overarching storylines with each book. There are little clever details that make the story more believable and that I really appreciate. ( )

Book #4 of a series
This is my favourite book so far in the series. I'm always a fan of the "unconventional strong female for the times and her era" type of heroine. And I do think Hero Jarvis is indeed quite heroic. My major niggle with the plot is the episode in which she and Sebastian are lured to a place where they become trapped. It was a contrived situation to throw them together and the resulting scenario was quite out of character, at least as far as Hero is concerned.

A minor annoyance throughout this series is Sebastian's pursuit of murderous people with absolutely no back up. He hares off to confront one person after another and deliberately baits them without any apparent consideration for having a partner scouting out the area to protect his inquiries from landing him in a life-threatening jam.
Despite these criticisms, I still like the theme and the general rollicking narrative. Harris is a very likeable storyteller. ( )

Okay, this is where I make a small confession: I read this one back in 2009 (not knowing at that time that it was part of a series and not a stand alone novel). Back then, I wasn't saving reviews here on LT (only ratings), so all I know is that I gave this one 4.5 stars back then. 11-years later, this one continues to captivate me. Why the bump up in the rating from the earlier books in the series? I really, really like Hero Jarvis. She is such a great character! A strong willed, determined, independent-thinking woman and the perfect match for Sebastian, IMO. The fact that she is the daughter of Lord Jarvis - cousin of the Prince Regent and Sebastian's arch nemesis (if we can say that such a character exists in this series) - makes Hero's decision to seek out Sebastian's help, to solve a murder she witnessed while engaging in her social welfare activities, and contrary to her father's wishes, all that more interesting.

"So many deaths."

That is the quick, three word summary for this installment, aptly provided by Hero. Yes, there is a rather high body count. Not surprising given the intricate mystery that starts at Covent Garden with the murders of prostitutes, only to be the tip of an ice burg as the mystery extends to the aristocracy and a more menacing threat to the English government in White Hall. As with previous installments, Lord Devlin continues to look into matters and conduct himself based on his own moral compass (and a good thing, too!). Thankfully, his "valet problem" has been resolved and we see Lord Devlin's household continuing to employee individuals that are useful to Sebastian's rather socially frowned upon investigative endeavors.

Overall, a series I continue to be enthralled with. ( )