Newest Book from Caro Peacock a Success: "A Dangerous Affair"

A Dangerous Affair
Caro Peacock
Avon A
ISBN: 978-0-06-144748-8

Following on from her first book, A Foreign Affair, Caro Peacock has  written a stunning successor novel. She continues on with the story of plucky Liberty Lane, a young lady living by her own wits during the Victorian Age in London. In the first novel, readers met Liberty as she discovers the death of her own father. In A Dangerous Affair, the murder mystery centers around the death of a famed ballet dancer and a wrongly accused country girl who has come to the big city to fulfill her dream on stage.

It hardly matters if readers have begun the series with A Foreign Affair, because this historical mystery stands on its own and, indeed, surpasses the first in storytelling ability. Here, the plot is more streamlined, the characters more interesting, and Peacock is perhaps more in her element setting the story in London rather than jumping back and forth between France and England (as in the first book).

Liberty’s interest in the case stems from her relationship with a pianist in the orchestra at the theatre where the murder occurs. He is smitten with the accused murderess and certain of her innocence, but given the Victorian setting and lack of a clear suspect, it seems likely that the accused dancer will face the gallows. All of the descriptions of court scenes at Old Bailey and the prison are very interesting, as are the British class distinctions that seem to arise in these matters. Powerful friends in the upper class can make or break a case wide open.

Author Caro Peacock combines fictional and real characters from the Victorian age well. The Author Insights Section (which follows the main story of the novel) helps shed light on important persons of the time (such as Benjamin Disraeli) and describes how Peacock chooses to use those people to help tell her story. The author also seems comfortable with the world of theatre, and she gives strong voice to her women characters, not just Liberty Lane, but minor ones as well.

Whether or not A Dangerous Affair is read as a stand alone novel or part of a larger Liberty Lane series, one thing is certain: Readers will enjoy coming to know Liberty Lane and the age in which she lives. Her lively spirit, interesting friends, and London location are certain to draw readers in. She’s the perfect sleuth for her Victorian age, and the epitome of a modern woman.