India Black and The Shadows of Anarchy by Carol K. Carr
Review by Jerelyn H. (I-F-Letty)
What is India up to now?
It is when I read Carol K Carr’s India Black novels I think that good authors are really actors on the page. India makes me laugh; she is who she is without apology. As we find India, she is brooding about French’s absence and over the Dowager Marchioness of Tullibardine’s parting words about her mother. When she about to go crazy, India is summoned to Disraeli’s presence, and given her first solo mission.
During this period all over Europe the Industrial Revolution’s impact was being felt. People were coming off the farm into the cities to find work. They found work and also, crowded filthy living conditions, unsafe working environments, back breaking work for little pay. People felt oppressed and within this the seeds of works rights were sown, and with this discontent a more violent radical element was emerging. London was the capital of empire and the anarchists were converging there from all over Europe. India’s mission is to infiltrate a cell that called themselves the Dark Legion…
Okay here is what you get, India at her snarky best, Vincent the street urchin eager and hungry to be back in service to the crown. I love Vincent and India’s interaction, it is pure magic. And then there is French, I wondered if he would be in this story but he comes in just in time to deliciously aggravate India. There are so many threads in this episode (for this is how I see it) the mystery of India’s mother and the old trout the Marchioness. French’s domestic arrangements and the growing yet denied attraction they feel for each other. There is the procuress from Seven Dials, and we can’t forget the anarchists. You get great dialogue, sexual tension, a subtle view into a dynamic historical period. A ripping good yarn, that is well crafted, Carol K Carr is a real gem of a story teller.
Her best offering yet, 5 STARS
The series:
India Black (A Madam of Espionage Mystery)
India Black and the Widow of Windsor
India Black and the Rajah’s Ruby (A Novella)
Whoo-hoo! I can’t wait to read it! I love India Black (and Carol K. Carr!) and I am really intrigued about India’s mother, and how the ‘old trout’ plays into the mystery, as well as the delicious chemistry with French! Thanks!
I can’t wait to read this latest installment. It’s next up on the reading list for me!