Night Storm

An excellent historical mystery with a touch of romance!

This one went right down to the wire--I only figured the mystery out (but not quite all the reasons behind it--a very twisted individual is involved) pages before the big reveal--and that was after turning back to the first time we saw that particular character to confirm something about their appearance. I love it when a mystery keeps you guessing!

The historical elements were a lot of fun too. The struggles that Charlotte had as a female apothecary at a time when few (if any--but Tracey makes an excellent point about this in her author's note) women held the position provided an interesting parallel to the #HeforShe movement that's been in the news, especially this week. (If you didn't see them yet, check out Emma Watson's excellent UN address and author Chuck Wendig's blog posts.) Cameron's job as a "thief-taker" (an early private investigator) is fascinating. And I've never been quite so jealous of a fictional character before--he got to touch the Rosetta Stone! (The actual rock, not the software program, obviously. I especially enjoyed that it was a female character who was explaining to the male the potential worth of the amazing artifact. Cam was drawn to it, but described it as "a rock defaced by the scribblings of a child".)

I was very pleased to discover that Night Storm is the first in a new series that will feature Charley and Cameron as a crime-solving couple--without realizing it, I started two such series this week, having finally listened to Naked in Death. I'm looking forward to continuing both series!

The romance--a second-chance one, yay!--offered plenty of chemistry and angst throughout much of the novel, and there was plenty of "Just give it up! You two are perfect for each other!" good-natured grumbling coming from this reader as she read. My only real complaint is that the resolution of that portion of the plot seemed to be resolved rather abruptly--he went from she can't be in my world; it's too dangerous to she's the "one-day-soon" mother of my children and she went from well, this was nice--gotta go make my dinner appointment to hey, let's continue the tour! Is that your bedchamber I see? really, really quickly. That was where I wanted them to go, though, and the scene that follows is highly enjoyable to read, so I can't complain too much. ;)

This is definitely a series I'll be reading more of.

Rating: 4 stars / B+

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.