A Novel Disguise

A Novel Disguise (2023) Samantha Larsen (A Lady Librarian Mystery #1)

Set in England in ~1783

Miss Tiffany Woodall knows she is lucky that her half-brother has allowed her to remain to keep house for him, even if she didn’t love or even like him. But after his unexpected death she has nothing, and so decides to pretend to be Uriah, to keep a roof over her head.

She looked remarkably like her brother; except he wore face powder. Opening the jar of white lead somehow felt more intrusive than wearing Uriah’s clothing, but it had to be done. She covered her face in white powder and then used liquid rouge made from alum, benzoin gum powder, and brandy to redden her cheeks and lips. The last things she added were three circular black patches on her left cheek.

However, another death soon leads her to wonder if her brother died of illness as she thought–or if he was murdered.

First, I don’t frequently come across historicals set in the Georgian era of powder and patches. Aside from being horrified by the makeup and dress (Lead power. How quaint.) I enjoyed the dive into an unexpected historical era.

Even better, I adored the research she did into the time period. There is a selected bibliography not just of novels of the time, but of modern resources. AND she references real life people upon whom she based the characters of color in her story: Dean Mohammed, Brian Mackey, Julius Soubise, Ignatius Sancho, Dido Elizabeth Belle, Francis Barber.

Needless to say, this utterly delighted me.

Honestly, I’d guessed part of the mystery pretty quickly, but that rarely bothers me, as I enjoy rereading mysteries. It’s the journey, not the destination.

That’s not the say there were not some weakness, but I am definitely starting the next book in the series.

Characters: Miss Tiffany Woodall, Mr. Uriah Woodall, Constable Samir Lathrop, Mrs. Wheatley, Mr. Simeon Ford, Mr. Septimus Hickenlooper, Miss Sarah Doddridge, Monsieur Bonne, Thomas Montague, Bernard Coram, Emily Jones, Francis Duke of Beaufort, Catharine Duchess of Beaufort , Peregrine Beaufort, Tess Duchess of Surrey, Osmond Surrey, Theophilus Surrey, Doctor Hudson, Mr. Washington Shirley, Mr. Canning, Lord Talgarth, Sir Walter Abney, Judge Phineas Faulkner, Mary Jones

Cover design by Sarah Horgan

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Rating: 8/10