Rosalind Thorne’s aristocratic family is certainly a peculiar one. It houses a father (the Baron) who is a forger and is either dead or on the run and a sister who was a highly sought-after courtesan but has recently married. Rosalind was left to make her way in the world and she didn’t have many options. She could follow in her sister’s footsteps or she could find a way to make herself useful – and charge for the service. So, being useful it was! Over the books in the series, Rosalind has gone from helping ton ladies solve ‘problems’ and accepting whatever ‘gifts’ those ladies wanted to bestow to helping the ladies and having a written contract for services and payment. Even though she is now officially charging, she is still received by most of the ton.

This case involves poisoning and murder – and as an extra case to follow, Adam Harkness is on the trail of traitors. So, two different cases and two different investigators. I had thought we’d spend the majority of our reading time with Rosalind – since it is her series – but it seemed to me that we spent more page time with Adam. Perhaps not, but that is the way it felt to me.

Rosalind worked hard and struggled to identify the culprit in what, to me, seemed to be a simple case to solve. So, again, for me, the more interesting – and disappointing – case was Adams. I say disappointed because people got away with crimes because the Bow Street powers- that be had their own version of the law and justice.

For some reason, neither mystery caught my attention and drew me into the story. I think part of that was the dual storyline and alternating chapters between Adam's story and Rosalind’s story. Perhaps, given the ending of this book, we’ll see both Rosalind and Adam working side-by-side on future cases. I certainly hope that is the case.

Overall, I was disappointed in the book and the characters and would not read it a second time. I want to like Adam and Rosalind and cheer for them as they work together to solve cases, and I hope that will happen starting with the next book. If it doesn’t, then I probably won’t pursue reading any future books in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )

Well this was an exciting read!

Adam Harkness, of Bow Street, is watching a group of men meeting at Cato Street, London who are purported to be hatching a plot to murder the Privy Council when the members dine together.
Rosalind Thorne is out with her friend Alice and maid Amelia when they rescue a young woman who’s fainted in the midst of the market, although another woman was very insistent on helping too. Amelia recognizes the young woman.
Adam turns up and helps Rosalind take the young woman safely home.
(Rosalind helps women of the ton who find themselves in all sorts of difficulties.
A conundrum!)
Rosalind finds herself with a possibly poisoned patient on her hands. Adam has a case that’s leaning towards high treason.
Somehow both events are linked.
The denouement is both shocking and dangerous.
One of the upshots is that Rosalind and Adam find themselves looking into a new future.

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. ( )

Rosalind Thorne has made a place for herself solving problems for the haut ton and now has some financial security. The problem she's trying to solve this time is the most complicated that she has ever faced. Cate Levitton has run away from home and found herself at Rosalind's home after collapsing in the park.

Cate's previous relationship with Rosalind's maid Amelia was the cause of Amelia losing her job. Now she has shown up dying of arsenic poisoning and lying about nearly everything. She won't say why she left home. When Rosalind goes to investigate, she finds a very dysfunctional family situation. Her aunt is the one with all the money in the family which fosters all kinds of resentment in Cate's oldest brother who is a jealous man. The younger of Cate's brothers tries to make peace between all parties but his efforts usually make situations worse instead of better. Her fiancé is her aunt's protegee and isn't really interested in Cate. In fact, he's having an affair with Cate's sister-in-law. And all of them are lying and keeping secrets about something.

While Rosalind is trying to untangle all the lies and secrets, her love Adam Harkness is having his own issues as a Bow Street Runner. He feels that the Runners are more interested in doing the political thing instead of the right thing concerning a group of men accused of treason. He's facing pressure from his colleagues as he tries to find out the truth about the treason plot. He has also been approached by a radical Member of Parliament who has offered a life-changing reward for finding one of the conspirators which his colleagues don't want found.

This story had a lot of viewpoint shifts and had a nicely twisty plot. I liked the look at the culture of the time period and sympathized with the tough decision Rosalind had to make. ( )