The Impostor

Drummond's third Regency (after The Unsuitable Miss Pelham ) has the razzle-dazzle plotting of a good mystery and the taut pacing of a good thriller. When dashing but irresponsible young Lord Hector Finch Wycombe bets his brother that he is indeed capable of a full week's work, he disguises himself as a tutor and finds employment in the home of the fractious Admiral Sir William Carey, a self-made man whose wife died in Marseilles during the Napoleonic wars. Motherless young Jason, Wycombe's pupil, is sickly and spoiled, while his cousin, the beautiful Serena, is inexplicably hard, cold and suspicious. As Wycombe settles in, he becomes aware of strange doings at the Carey house: smugglers and gypsies seem to have made it their rendezvous. Then Wycombe uncovers a dark secret about the Careys that may threaten Jason's life. Serena, meanwhile, exerts a growing charm for Wycombe, but, haunted by her past, seems not to recognize his reciprocal feelings. When Wycombe's ruse is revealed, his attachment to the family and concern for the boy are challenged by his own obligations. Will his feelings for the Careys survive the London social season? And will Jason finally escape all peril? Drummond's dialogue is crisp, her eye keen for period convention and detail. She has produced a thoroughly top-drawer romance, wholly engaging and perfectly entertaining. (May)