Another Scarlet Pimpernel derivative that I couldn't stop myself from reading. Unfortunately, I found the characters and story beyond ridiculous, and that's in comparison with Orczy. CS Quinn can't seem to let her heroine or hero just be, they have to tick all the trending boxes along the way. Attica Morgan, a trained assassin and spy, is the acknowledged daughter of an American slave and an English lord, so somehow manages to claim both the oppression of her maternal ancestry and the privileges of her father's nobility, repeating ad infinitum that she has a patriotic duty to serve England. And naturally she can fight like a man and reads books on engineering for a hobby. Her partner in crime, Jemmy, is an Irish-American pirate! (‘Pirate signal,’ he says. ‘Drop an upside-down crucifix outside your prison window, and if there’s a brother-at-arms passing, he’s bound by pirate lore to set you free.) ’If this was a parody, I could probably manage a few knowing smiles, but what we get instead is a strange mash-up of 007 and Killing Eve with a passing nod to history and actual lines of dialogue including 'I should kill you now' and 'We have no time to lose!'

And oh, my poor, mistreated French Revolution, what have they done to you? The whole plot is set in 1789, just after the fall of the Bastille, and already the Revolution is at full force. What exactly is Attica - the 'Scarlet Pimpernel' - saving people from, with the monarchy still in place and the guillotine yet to be invented? Quinn also accelerates the fashion 'for floating gauzy things with ribbons' - her words - by about eight years, and imagines that stays are no longer worn. I mean, I know Orczy played fast and lose with the timeline, but at least she was only one year out. With cameos from La Fayette (yay!), Robespierre and Marie Antoinette (boo!), and great chunks of exposition like ‘Those are the official bedchambers,’ I say. ‘For the King and Queen. They act more like meeting rooms than private bedrooms. Very public places’, this is just another F-Rev adventure by numbers.

But then, the characters act and talk like modern time travellers transplanted to a key point in French history, so I don't know why I was expecting detailed research. If you take the heroine from Du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek, or a Gainsborough Pictures film, and then make her bisexual and biracial for reasons, you get Attica Morgan. And don't even get me started on the Irish-American pirate, so he is.

I know I'm taking this way too seriously but COME ON - pick a trope, don't use all of them at once! ( )

The second In the Revolutionary Spy series. Attica Morgan is an English spy living temporarily in Paris, helping nobles to escape. At the same time a killer is at large and his victims are female aristocracy. His next casualty is one of those who Attica is trying to assist. Attica enlists the help of her old friend and pirate, Jemmy Avery. It’s not going to be easy with a mob on its way to storm Versailles!

I loved the first book in the series, The Bastille Spy, so I was looking forward very much to reading The Scarlet Code. I’m pleased to announce It didn’t disappoint! It’s another fabulous adventure story and took me on another rollercoaster of a ride. It’s fast paced and action packed and I just love the characters of Attica and Jemmy. They make a great intrepid duo. Historical fact is combined with fiction making it a well researched piece of writing. It’s beautifully written with a smattering of humour. There is a good sense of time and place as there was in the first book, I almost felt I was there. The mob’s anger as they stormed Versailles was palpable. Scary times!

A fun and entertaining read which had me gripped until the end. Highly recommended for all those swashbuckling thriller fans out there! ( )