A Talent for Trickery

Opening a series set in Victorian England, Johnson (Destined to Last) displays her talent for depicting families whose relationships balance antagonistic frustration and well-meaning warmth. Viscount Owen Renderwell, once one of Scotland Yard’s greatest thief-takers, arrives at the secret home of Charlotte “Lottie” Walker, whose father, Walter, was a thief turned informant who recently died. Owen hopes to search Walter’s journals for clues to encrypted letters found where a London madam was murdered, but needs the support of his old crush Lottie. She hates Owen for his role in her father’s death, and she wishes to hide her family’s criminal past from her younger brother, Peter, as well as keeping the details of her own involvement from Owen. Night work on secret codes brings Lottie and Owen enticingly close, but a stalker in the woods leads Owen to dedicate himself to catching the criminal, while young Peter is determined to take on a man’s protective role. The romantic thread is never lost, though it sometimes takes a backseat to plot, and the leads’ blend of cleverness and stubbornness makes their push-pull dynamic a joy. Agent: Emmanuelle Morgen, Stonesong. (Nov.)