Consequences of Sin introduces another unconventional heroine, Ursula Marlow, into the world of historical mysteries. In this debut novel set in London in 1910, Ursula is a young heiress who wants to do something other than attend modish parties and wear pretty clothes. She is a suffragette and Oxford scholar with dreams of becoming a journalist.
One evening she receives an urgent call from her friend, Winifred a radical activist, who's just discovered her lover has been murdered. Ursula quickly goes out to meet her without thinking of the consequences to her reputation but knows that she won't be able to help her without the aid of her father's trusted advisor, Lord Wrotham.
Try as she might, Ursula can't seem to get further in the investigation. Her father insists that she stay out of those affairs and instead concern herself with making a successful match with Tom Cumberland, a man she can barely tolerate much less love.
Ursula won't be dissuaded and continues her limited investigation until she finds a diary and papers that connect her father and some of his associates with a crime committed long ago and in another part of the world. There will be attempts on her life and others she loves and at the same time she will start to feel a growing attraction to the enigmatic Lord Wrotham.
I was utterly delighted by this book. The author gives us a wonderful heroine who experiences a gamut of emotions through the novel. The reader can really see a young woman trying to buck convention, do what's expected of her, but also not letting go of her dreams.
There is quite a bit of romance in this mystery novel but it's handled so well that I think it fits perfectly with the narrative. As a matter of fact, I was surprised by how much I didn't like Lord Wrotham at first but towards the end he thoroughly won me over too, especially when he tells Ursula that he always travels with a book of poetry and thus gives her his copy of Tennyson's Princess.
I can't wait until the next book in the series.
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Added 04/07