A Dangerous Affair

I really enjoyed the first Liberty Lane novel, A Foreign Affair. So when I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it as well. Usually I'm wary of sequels, afraid that they won't be as good as the first. Well, I needn't have worried here; A Dangerous Affair is just as strong as A Foreign Affair. Liberty is jut as spunky and unique as before, and the plot moves along at a brisk pace. My only problem with this novel is the same as I had with its predecessor: the dialogue is a bit too modern, as was our indefatigable protagonist. However, I look forward to reading more of Liberty's adventures in the future.

Peacock returns to 19th Century England with Liberty Lane, the young protagonist from her previous book, /A Foreign Affair/. Here, Liberty is drawn into spying on Columbine, a prima ballerina, by a young Benjamin Disraeli. When Columbine is found poisoned, suspicion falls on Jenny Jarvis, another dancer that had just a very public fight with Columbine. One of Liberty's friends was beginning to court Jenny, and with her arrest and probably conviction for murder, needs Liberty to solve the crime before Jenny has one last dance with the hangman's noose. /A Dangerous Affair/ is not only a good mystery, but also a very good Victorian novel. Peacock has a wonderful grasp of Victorian society, and helps bring it to life through her well written and entertaining young Liberty.

In his thirties recently elected to Parliament,"watch dog" Benjamin Disraeli offers Liberty Lane a fee to spy on dancer Columbine, whose disreputable behavior could lead to a nasty highly publicized scandal. Needing the money, Liberty reluctantly agrees. However, someone poisons Columbine with the London police leaning towards rival dancer Jenny as the prime suspect as she and the deceased had a public dispute. Liberty thinks otherwise, but there is mounting pressure to execute Jenny, already convicted by the public, the media, and the cops, for the murder. To prevent a double injustice of the wrong person being hung while the real killer is free, Liberty investigates ably assisted by Amos the groom. They begin to unravel a series of murky deceptions in which the influential and the downtrodden are tied together in secrecy. The sequel to A FOREIGN AFFAIR is a terrific early Victorian whodunit that uses real historical persons to anchor time and place. Liberty is an intelligent sleuth and her sidekick Amos serves as a sort of Watson. The mystery is cleverly devised with fabulous plausible spins and misdirections as Caro peacock furbishes an entertaining early nineteenth century investigative tale. Harriet Klausner