The Emperor’s Conspiracy

The Emperor’s Conspiracy (2012) Michelle Diener (Regency London #1)

Set in London in 1811

After being annoyed by the last regency mystery, I wanted to reread a favorite, and of course had to start at the beginning of the series.

(H)e was looking at her hands again.

“Should I put the gloves back on?”

Her words were like a whip crack, jerking him to himself. “Who did that to you?” “Not who, what.”

She began to smear butter on her toast, suddenly starving. “Chimneys, Lord Durnham. Lots and lots of chimneys. I used my hands to keep myself from falling down them, or to shimmy up them, and they were often rough, and sometimes very sharp. And because no one cleaned the wounds properly, or treated them in any way, they healed badly with a lot of scarring.”

That she was breaking with convention disturbed her. In the true way of the converted, she was far more a stickler for society’s rules than most of those born and bred to it. She knew each one. Had forced herself to memorize them, so that she would never let Catherine down.

…

She had to wonder how Catherine put up with her and her strange inconsistencies. She didn’t even make sense to herself. She must drive those who knew her to distraction.

Characters: Charlotte Raven, Lord Edward Durnham, Lady Catherine Howe, Lady Emma Holliday, James Holliday, Ned Holliday, Harry Holliday, Geoffrey Holliday, Luke Bracken, Gary, Kit, Smithy, Peter, Bill Jenkins, Betsy, Jess Blackwell, Flo Jump, Sammy Bayton, John Norris, Dervish, Gerald Hawthorne, Clavers, Lord Frethers, Lord Tavenam, Lord Aldridge, Mr. Ashcroft, Ted Harkness, Blackley

Publisher: Gallery Books

Rating: 8.5/10

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