by Georgette Heyer

Many Georgette Heyer fans count Elinor as a favorite due to her dry sarcastic humor and banter with Carlyon, our hero. And Carlyon does seem to enjoy Elinor’s wit and her lack of deference. Unfortunately, I found her unremittingly whiny throughout the whole book. When she was not complaining, she was being ungrateful while seemingly archly teasing and flirting with Carlyon, our hero. To me, it seemed like phony and affected posturing. To make matters worse, She refused to admit how lucky she was that her one day marriage to Eustace, arranged by Carlyon, saved her from a life of drudgery and landed her with a house, and probably a nice little competence. To the contrary, she kept threatening to go back to her perspective obnoxious employer and give all of the money away so she could go back to being a governess. I was hoping Carlyon would take her up on her threat and bundle her into the next coach straight to Mrs. Scattergood and her no doubt darling children. Honestly! So our heroine was a big fail. All the other characters were likable (Carlyon, Nicky, John, Beccles) to delightful (Francis, Bouncer). The resolution to the mystery/adventure was twisty and surprising.**3 stars out of 5**

September 2, 2017