A REGIMENTAL AFFAIR

The England that Capt. Matthew Hervey returns to—after heroic duty at Waterloo and in India—scarcely resembles the one he left merely a year before. As Mallinson recounts in lively detail, it's now 1817 and political agitators chip away at the established order, criminals prowl the streets and unemployed soldiers, trimmed from her majesty's bulging forces, bloat the ranks of the lazy and useless. Hervey, saddened by the state of his beloved country, rejoices at his new assignment: second in command of his old regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. Soon, however, the dashing, fiercely loyal officer begins chafing under his new commander, the pompous, sadistic Lord Towcester. Having been promised a promotion once Towcester steps down, Hervey struggles to keep a stiff upper lip as he leads his Dragoon regiment on missions to ambush French smugglers on the Brighton coast and squash marauding Luddites in Nottingham. Sent to Canada, Hervey takes his wife, Lady Henrietta, along with him; in the New World disaster strikes, causing Hervey to vow vengeance on Towcester. Mallinson (Honorable Company) brings this third entry in the series to a close as Hervey teams up with U.S. troops to lend a hand with the westward expansion, setting the stage for a frontierlike adventure next time out. Mallinson's otherwise highly entertaining, cleverly executed plot suffers occasionally from excessive period detail and a dearth of suspense. His prose, however, is sure and steady, and his deft treatment of the honorable yet never priggish Hervey makes him a hero readers will not only root for but follow into battle. (Mar. 5)