The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn

Grace Eversleigh has spent the last five years as the companion to the dowager Duchess of Wyndham. It’s a very thankless job, but the dowager did rescue Grace from almost literally the brink of a forced marriage, and so she’s grateful. When their coach is held up by an Irish highwayman, Jack Audley, the dowager becomes obsessed with the man’s resemblance to her dead son, who died on a voyage from Ireland around 30 years ago. And so she collects the footmen and kidnaps him.

The “is he or isn’t he” question isn’t even a factor as Jack knows his father’s name, he just never bothered to meet his father’s family because his father had told his (maternal) aunt that they didn’t get along. The question is if he was legitimate, and if he’ll accept the dukedom.

Grace is longsuffering, and I wish she’d stand up to the dowager more, but she’s not a martyr, and stands up to pretty much everyone else. Jack is ridiculously nice for a long-lost heir who is a highwayman hero. In any other book, he’d be the guy clearly too sweet to be the love interest who would “tut tut” and pat the heroine’s hand and sympathize with her about what an awful jerk the angsty brooding hero is. That would be Thomas, the current duke, who is the hero of the sequel to this book. Thomas really only has angsty brooding jerk moments due to the whole thing where he was supposed to be duke and now he’s about to be the penniless cousin making him drink way too much. The sequel, I understand, isn’t really a sequel but is what Thomas and his fiancée, Amelia, are doing during this book, which results in a number of scenes where random things are referenced but never followed up on.

I adored the first half of the book, which was really Julia Quinn at her best, but was less fond of the second half, where people started angsting. Angst really isn’t Quinn’s strongest point at all, and the explanation for the angst comes too late for it to really be effective. Still, it was a lot of fun, though I may also be influenced by bouncing off several books in a row after reading several non-happy books in a row.

Tell Me Pretty Maidens by Rhys Bowen

It’s winter, and for the first time since she took over her dead employer’s agency, turn of the century detective Molly Murphy is swamped with work. A Jewish couple has asked her to look into the suitability of their daughter’s suitor, an actress wants her to find out if she’s being stalked by a ghost, or someone more earthly, and a friend wants her to find out what happened to her missing nephew. In addition, Molly and her Beau, Daniel Sullivan, find a traumatized young woman passed out in the snow, only to learn that she’s been struck mute by her experiences.

Like a lot of mystery fans, I don’t read mysteries so much for the mysteries as much as I do for the characters. Mystery novels tend to be excellent showcases for characters, and that’s one of Bowen’s greatest strengths. The last book in the series removed Molly from her normal cast of characters, but this book returns Molly to them, and Bowen definitely makes up for lost time, especially with Molly’s Bohemian friends. Bowen has developed a tendency to bring in more historical figures in recent books, and this continues here, with the inclusion of Nellie Bly, but she doesn’t have nearly the “Look! I included so-and-so!” feel that a lot of other historical mystery writers tend to have. I also really liked the look into the lives of actresses and chorus girls at the time, and Molly’s admission that she isn’t sure even love would be enough to make her marry, given the sacrifices that would be expected of her.

In which I link to cheap things.

1. Bookcloseouts has all fiction except for children's fiction 50% off their normal prices, as well as free shipping on orders over $35.00. Sadly, I am late on reporting on this, and the sale ends 12/2/09. I may have been bad last night.

2. Rightstuf's 12 Days of Anime sale has begun.

3. Amazon has a ton of YA and children's books on sale, including a lot of boxed sets and some recent favorites.