What works for one book may not work for another... Once again, Anne Cleeland gives readers a spunky, headstrong heroine in historical (regency) times. This one takes place in France and Egypt. More spying is underfoot, more intrigue, more confusion, and once again, readers are kept in the dark and while this method worked for the more exciting and fast-paced Tainted Angel, it didn't work for this one. I confess that while I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning and the unfolding of the mystery itself, by the 60% mark I felt it had all gone on long enough, answers were overdue, and the book needed to conclude already.I did like it, just didn't love it. In Tainted, this writing style of giving just enough emotion to make us wonder what exactly the heroine is feeling was adequate, because the heroine herself was part of the mystery. In this, the heroine is different--she's not a spy; she's a woman whose parents have gone missing, whose being harassed constantly about a missing strongbox, and finding love for the first time. SHE wasn't the mystery. So some emotion was desperately needed.
The story takes us from France to Egypt to tombs and it contains a long list of characters and it's not clear if they are bad or good. It did become difficult to keep track of who was who and who had done what to who.
I really appreciated the humor, especially between Hathor and Bing. They had some cute conversations. I also love the heroine's spunk and internal thoughts. She made me chuckle more than once.
To her dismay, his gaze rested discreetly on her breasts for the barest moment.
"You relieve me no end," Hattie assured him in a brittle tone, and wondered if it would provoke an international incident if she pushed the old lecher out the door.
Anne Cleeland has a very unique, literary writing style, and I appreciate that the most. She uses prose from that time period and it def doesn't feel like fifth-grade writing, like most books do nowadays. Here is a real writer and one to watch.
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