The Mystery Woman

February 18, 2013
If not exactly a taut thriller, Quick’s second Ladies of Lantern Street installment (after 2012 ‘s Crystal Gardens) is a breezy, fast-moving Victorian whodunit. Our intrepid heroine, the attractive and resourceful Beatrice Lockwood, is an agent for the private inquiry firm of Flint & Marsh, a sort of prefeminist detective agency staffed by women with extrasensory abilities. Through a series of deft plot twists, Beatrice’s powers are brought to bear on solving the murder of her boss, finding a blackmailer, and stopping a mad scientist from using an Egyptian artifact to resurrect the dead. Quick applies the fantastical elements with a light touch as Beatrice explores her growing romance with Joshua Gage, a formidable, legendary ex-spy with whom she finds herself allied and magically connected. The dialogue throughout rings true and is often clever. Some weak spots in the plot might dismay hard-core mystery fans, but the novel as a whole is likely to delight fans of romantic period fiction. Agent: Steven Axelrod, the Axelrod Agency.

February 15, 2013
A woman with psychic powers and a man who believes only what he can see make a formidable pair. Miss Beatrice Lockwood worked with Roland Fleming at the Academy of the Occult until he was brutally murdered. After fleeing the scene, Beatrice was fortunate to find a job with Flint & Marsh, a pair of talented women who provide paid companions with paranormal talents. While serving as a companion to a lady who's been targeted by a fortune hunter, Beatrice is approached at a ball by handsome, mysterious Joshua Gage, aka Mr. Smith's Messenger. Gage, who carried out assignments for the government before he was badly hurt, has come out of retirement to aid his sister, who's being blackmailed by someone, with all signs pointing to Beatrice as the culprit. Despite his suspicions, Gage is immediately attracted to Beatrice, who agrees to go with his sister to a house party at Alverstoke Hall, where the blackmailer has set up a meeting. The blackmailer is found murdered, and Beatrice is nearly kidnapped by the assassin known as the Bone Man, the same man who killed Fleming. Realizing that Beatrice is the target and the blackmail just a scheme to lure her into a dangerous situation, she and Gage flee, posing as a married couple until they can return to London. There, they mount a desperate campaign against an unknown enemy who will do anything to get what he wants. The second in the Victorian Ladies of Lantern Street series, though not the best of Quick's popular romantic mysteries (Crystal Gardens, 2012, etc.), still contains all the requisite elements: romance, sex, mystery and clever repartee.

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April 15, 2013

Shocked when her boss and mentor at Fleming's Academy of the Occult is murdered and she barely escapes the lethal Bone Man, psychically gifted Beatrice Lockwood disappears and reemerges as an agent for the private inquiry firm Flint & Marsh as one of the intrepid, enigmatic Ladies of Lantern Street. But Beatrice is not quite as well hidden as she would like to be. When Beatrice is spotted at a ball by master sleuth Joshua Gage, who suspects her of blackmailing his sister, and he comes to Beatrice's aid during an attempted kidnapping, the two are thrown together in a bizarre, dangerous adventure with some unexpected twists. VERDICT A smart, self-sufficient heroine who can "see" people's footprints and a tenacious, wounded hero with an uncanny ability to find whatever he seeks struggle against the incendiary attraction that flares between them as they work to uncover the truth, deal with a crazed scientist, unmask a villain (or two), and stay alive in the process. A clever, fast-paced romp from the ever-creative Quick (Crystal Gardens), who lives in Seattle.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2013
As an agent for the Crown, Joshua Gage investigates paranormal cases, but that doesn't mean he believes in it himself. As far as Joshua is concerned, anyone claiming to be psychic is a fake. When it comes to Beatrice Lockwood, aka Miranda the Clairvoyant, Joshua believes the lady is not just a fake but a murderer to boot since she was the last person seen leaving Dr. Roland Fleming's Academy of the Occult right before the doctor was found dead. Joshua is certain that Beatrice is also blackmailing his sister Hannah, and he is determined to put a stop to the lady's extortion efforts one way or another. However, once Joshua finally meets Beatrice, he discovers that though she may not be a blackmailer or a murderess, she is the key he needs to locate the real criminal. Whether she is writing as Jayne Ann Krentz, Amanda Quick, or Jayne Castle, no one does high-stakes suspense and high-octane romance better than Krentz. With its evocative Victorian setting, delightfully outspoken heroine with hidden depths (and a hidden garter gun), deliciously complex hero, and a paranormal-infused plot that generates adrenaline and passion, The Mystery Woman will captivate readers from start to finish.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)