A Broken Vessel

In this atmospheric and gritty mystery set in 1820's London, dandy Julian Kestrel (first encountered in Cut to the Quick ) searches out the truth about a supposed suicide. Sally Stokes, a ``game girl,'' or prostitute--and the sister of Julian's valet--likes to lift handkerchiefs from her clients. Among the three she collects in one night's work, she finds a letter from an obviously upper-class young woman despairing over her fate in an establishment for fallen women. Intrigued by the mystery, Julian and Sally set out to determine her identity. Sally insinuates herself into the Reclamation Society, where she learns that one of the inmates is a recent suicide, while Julian attempts to trace the owners of the handkerchiefs. The closets of these gentlemen, however, harbor assorted skeletons, and Julian and Sally's investigations draw them ever deeper into danger. Ross briskly explores the sordid underbelly of the Regency period with sharply etched characters, authentic slang and a smartly intricate plot sweetened by a fetching and unusual love story. (May)