Review: The Mystery Woman by Amanda Quick

The Mystery Woman
by Amanda Quick
Series: Ladies of Lantern Street #2
Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: April 23, 2013
Genre: Adult Historical Romantic Suspense
Source: Purchased
Purchase* Barnes and Noble/Amazon/Book Depository
My review of book one: Crystal Gardens

Beatrice Lockwood, one of the intrepid ladies of Lantern Street, is in the middle of a case when her past comes back to haunt her.  Joshua North, a former spy for the Crown, has come out of a self-imposed retirement after a disastrous case that left him scarred and forced to use a cane.  He is hunting the villain who is blackmailing his sister.  The trail leads him to Beatrice who is his chief suspect.  But when he realizes that she is not the blackmailer they set out to find the real extortionist.  Passion flares between them as they dodge a professional assassin.  Meanwhile a mysterious scientist intent on resurrecting his dead lover using an ancient Egyptian formula for preserving the bodies of the dead is also hunting Beatrice. He is keeping his dead love perfectly preserved in a special, crystal-topped sarcophagus filled with the special fluid.   But he needs Beatrice's paranormal talent to activate the reviving properties of the preservative in the coffin.  Time is running out for everyone involved. The two cases collide at a mysterious country-house filled with artifacts from ancient Egyptian tombs.  The drama concludes in the mad scientist's laboratory where Joshua discovers that the past he thought was dead is still very much alive -- sort of.

Can I just have a fangirl moment? Squee! This is one of my favorite authors and one whom I would love to meet and share a coffee with. Amanda Quick is one of Jayne Anne Krentz’s pen names and the other is Jayne Castle. I adore her books in all three genres; historical, contemporary and futuristic. The Mystery Woman is the second book in the Ladies of Lantern Street and Quick truly delivered. The tale is filled with spies, mystery, romance and danger all wrapped in a little paranormal woo-woo. Set in historical London I quickly slid into the world and its characters. Three word review: Suspenseful, romantic, captivating.

The Ladies of Lantern Street work for a private investigation company and its employees are mostly female. These trained women often disguise themselves as companions as they solve cases and protect young woman. Beatrice Lockwood is on case to protect a young lady from a fortune hunter when she encounters Joshua North, a former spy for the crown. He assists her and then informs her he has been searching for her. Beatrice has a secret past and it’s all about to catch up with her when she is suspected of blackmail and murder. When Joshua interviews her, he quickly realizes all is not as it seems and together the two must find the blackmailer and stop a madman.

The ladies of Lantern Street are bright, feisty and witty. They each possess some kind of paranormal talent and I found them fascinating. Beatrice is clever and her ability to see emotional footprints and access situations was believable and interesting. Her fiery red hair matches her witty and sometimes snarky personality. Joshua North has been recovering from injuries he suffered during his last case. He has been melancholy and suffers from both physical scars and emotional ones due to the accident. He is tall, angular and while not classically handsome his strong presence draws the female eye. Meeting Beatrice and working this case has given him a new vigor for life. The banter and slow building romance was quite good and I found myself rooting for them. The mad scientist and his obsession with an ancient Egyptian formula added suspense to the tale. The assassin was positively creepy and learning about him as he pursued them was quite fun. We briefly see the other ladies of Lantern Street and their employers. I enjoy this group and I am looking forward to more tales.

One of the things I love about Quick (Krentz) is that she knows how to spin a captivating tale. She carefully weaves all of the threads together at a beautiful pace that allows the reader to completely immerse themselves in the world and characters. Time and time again she gives me that book high I so desperately chase. I found the mystery and Beatrice’s part in it quite clever and the mix of Egyptian mythology added to the paranormal woo-woo of this tale and felt genuine. There were quite a few twists in the mystery and while a part of me suspected, it wasn't until close to the end that I was sure. The romance was splendid, built slowly and had moments of humor and sweetness. We do get a little heat and it was hot but discreetly done. Each of these books contain one mystery and one romance and I look forward to the next ladies story.

I highly recommend The Mystery Woman to fans of historical romantic suspense and mystery wrapped in paranormal woo-woo. Crystal Gardens was the first book in this series, and the third is expected in 2014. Amanda Quick is on my auto buy list and I've read almost everything written by Jayne Anne Krentz and her pseudonyms.

Four and half cups of coffee out of five

Crystal Gardens by Amanda Quick

Crystal Gardens
By Amanda Quick
Series: Ladies of the Lantern Street Trilogy #1
Publisher:Penguin
Publication Date: April 24, 2012
Genre: Adult/ Paranormal romance/ Historical fiction
Buy: Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository 

Evangeline Ames has rented a country cottage far from the London streets where she was recently attacked. Fascinated by the paranormal energy of nearby Crystal

Gardens, she finds pleasure in sneaking past the wall to explore the grounds. And when her life is threatened again, she instinctively goes to the gardens for safety.
Lucas Sebastian has never been one to ignore a lady in danger, even if she is trespassing on his property. Quickly disposing of her would-be assassin, he insists they keep the matter private. There are rumors enough already, about treasure buried under his garden, and occult botanical experiments performed by his uncle—who died of mysterious causes. With Evangeline’s skill for detection, and Lucas’s sense of the criminal mind, they soon discover that they have a common enemy. And as the energy emanating from Crystal Gardens intensifies, they realize that to survive they must unearth what has been buried for too long.(synopsis from Goodreads)

Crystal Gardens is the first in a new trilogy by Amanda Quick called the Ladies of Lantern Street. It’s a historical romance laced with paranormal elements.  Quick delivers an action packed novel with characters that I quickly came to love. Filled with suspense, mystery, paranormal ability and a swoon worthy hero I was quickly swept up in the story.

The tale begins with protagonist Evangeline Ames. She is writer and ladies companion who has taken time off to explore the paranormal energy surrounding Crystal Gardens after she was attacked in London. When someone breaks into the cottage at night she instinctively runs to the Crystal Gardens estate and runs smack dab into swoon-worthy Lucas Sebastian. His uncle has recently passed and he believes foul play was involved. He and his trusted employee Stone are now residing in the home. The gardens are a dangerous place and Lucas has his hands full with his uncle’s botanical experiments. The tale that unfolds was typical Quick and while familiar it captivated me none the less.

Lucas Sebastian is a dark man who makes people uncomfortable. He has a strong psychical talent that he must constantly keep in check. While people fear him, Evangeline sees the hero under the wolf’s clothing. While he can behave like a boar, Evangeline begins to soften him. I found Evangeline to be delightful, witty and intelligent. She is a fictional romance writer, with absolutely no romantic experience beyond a kiss or too, so you can imagine the fun in that. We meet her best friends and the other ladies of Lantern Street when they come to visit. The three of them conversing had me giggling. We learn there is much more to these ladies. There were other characters that rounded out the cast and made the plot interesting.

The plot contains mystery, suspense, romance and a healthy dose of paranormal. While it isn’t original fans of Quick are sure to enjoy it. We have the mysterious death of Lucas’s uncle and someone is trying to murder Evangeline. Putting all the pieces of the puzzle together was fun and I enjoyed the ride. Throw in a lost treasure, some colorful characters and a well paced story-line and I was highly entertained. The romance between Lucas and Evangeline was hot. From the moment they encountered each other the tension and electrical current running between them was obvious even to an outsider. Evangeline decided to base her hero in her novel on Lucas and considers a romantic tryst with Lucas to conduct research. She sees herself outside of his social circle and cannot imagine anything beyond that. She may lose her heart but she will have the memories. Lucas has other plans. 

Fans of paranormal suspense and romance should enjoy this historical fiction.  I am looking forward to book two of the Ladies of Lantern Street. Amanda Quick is a pseudonym for author Jayne Anne Krentz who also writes as Jayne Castle. I adore her Arcane Society Novels written in the past, present and future. I encourage you to check out her other works.

I gave this novel 3.5 coffee cups out of 5.  

Amanda Quick

pseudonym for Jayne Anne Krentz