Pamela Christie

Wow. I thought this was a really good book. At first, the first chapter, I didn't like it (and almost put it back on the shelf). It was difficult for me to follow the names of the characters, who was who and what they were doing and why, it was all jumbled up, a puzzle that didn't seem to fit together. And I couldn't see where the story was going. Plus it was quite depressing, the historically accurate bad guys winning, the rich and powerful exploiting the majority and the weak. Then all of a sudden the story took an unexpected or quick turn, and it got a lot better. As the book progressed I found myself more and more engaged.

As historical fiction goes, again, while maybe a bit simple I found it really good. I had known a lot about Juan Bautista de Anza. There is the Anza Trail from Culiacan (Sinaloa, Mexico) up through Arizona and California to San Francisco; pretty much everything in California is named for him, and the entire Western United States is still influenced by his expedition. What I did not know so much about was when de Anza was Governor of the Province of New Mexico, New Spain. Cool stuff. Good premise for a work of fiction.… (altro)

From the back cover (which made the book sound very interesting):
"Arabella Beaumont is the fortunate possessor of one of England's most celebrated bodies--with a formidable business brain to match. Her latest venture transforming a London hotel into a social club for courtesans. Arabella needs her featherbrained friend, Constance Worthington to repay the fortune she owes her. And now that Constance has a wealthy protector, Pigeon Pollard, she's finally good for the cash.

Alas, the imprudent Constance has also been dallying with Lady Ribbonhat's footman, and a mysterious blackmailer is threatening to tell all. If Constance pays up, there will be no money left for Arabella's renovations. But as the case escalates rapidly from extortion to murder, Arabella's life, as well as her fortune, hangs precariously in the balance...."

So my interest was peaked by the above two paragraphs, unfortunately the inside contents did little (nothing what-so-ever) to hold my interest.

The author tries too hard and comes up with a losing hand... The writing was stilted, affected, trite stiff, & overly clever.... I didn't like the characters, I didn't feel badly for them.

Even more annoying was the habit of the author to add *'d footnotes at the bottom of most pages attempting in a weakly witty manner of explaining previous happenings & past conversations.… (altro)

4.5

*Book source ~ Many thanks to Kensington for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Arabella Beaumont is London’s most infamous courtesan. When an old friend turned enemy ends up dead by Arabella’s monogrammed paper knife (letter opener) the law is ready to arrest her as a murderess. However, her rich and highly titled patron, the Duke of Glendeen, declares that Arabella will be remanded to his custody and therefore free to help with the investigation of her innocence (of the murder, that is) and she does just that. With help from two Bow Street Runners, her sister Belinda, a family friend and many others, Arabella has only 3 weeks to find the real killer or she will be hanged for a murder she didn’t commit.

The writing for this story is a bit different than I’m used to, but it’s not a bad different. It’s told mostly from Arabella’s POV, but there is a narrator at times. The plot is twisty, the characters are wonderful and there is humor aplenty. I quite enjoyed myself while I tried to figure out who killed poor Euphemia Ramsey. I would definitely read more about Arabella and her entourage.… (altro)