A Useful Woman by Darcie WildeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I had never heard of this series until I ran onto it the other day. It has lots of the things I really love--Regency setting, historical mystery, Jane Austen vibes--and I hoped it wouldn't let me down.
It didn't. I thought it was great.
The writing feels very confident, very self-assured, and though we experience with the main character the difficulties of dealing with life's harsh realities, there is still a lot of hope in the story and in Rosalind. She had a lot of setbacks through no fault of her own, but she's treading water at least, and maybe doing a bit better than that. I like that she is recognized as being good at many things, enough that she's sought after by society people despite living on the edge of disgrace. And I like how she holds her own when facing those glowering and posturing people who want to overawe her and take advantage of her. No crumbling. No weeping. No apologies.
I like her. She's a good character.
I also like Honoria, who is salty but fun. And the Bow Street runner character is unusually round, full of possibilities for future novels. I'm looking forward to seeing some of that.
The plot is soooo Regency it's almost funny, but it totally works. In one way or another, everyone in the story is trying to stay as close to the top of society as they can get, and it makes some of them do foolish things.
I really like a good mystery, but it struck me that it could almost have worked just as a novel of manners without the tragic events at Almack's. The mystery just makes it that much more fun to read.
I already have the second book on hand, which is good, because I'm eager to see more.
Recommended for Austen people (most of them) and every Regency mystery type.
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