{"id":12646,"date":"2020-03-21T09:57:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T13:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12646"},"modified":"2025-10-01T18:50:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T22:50:05","slug":"a-dangerous-madness-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12646","title":{"rendered":"A Dangerous Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Dangerous Madness<\/a><\/em> (2014) Michelle Diener<\/a> (Regency London)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Set in London in 1812<\/p>\n

Miss Phoebe Hillier has been prepared to follow her father’s dying wish and marry Sheldrake, but when he tells her he is ending their betrothal and leaving the country she is as much relieved as she is horrified.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I\u2019m . . . well, soon I\u2019ll be in a bit of bother, m\u2019dear. Or I think I will. And I\u2019m going to have to make a run for it. I thought I could hold out until I got my hands on your money, but it looks like I was a bit too optimistic.\u201d He gave a sigh.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I really dislike Sheldrake. <\/p>\n

The Duke of Wittaker has been secretly working for the government for years. First at the request of of his father, and then because he wasn’t sure what else to do. But being a rake and a wastrel and winning the fortunes of his fellow noblemen has grown dull and insipid, so he has been trying to reclaim himself from his reputation. <\/p>\n

But the murder of the prime minister throws him back into that world, to try and determine if the killer acted alone.<\/p>\n

He’d despised Perceval. It hadn’t been difficult to pretend to be a malcontent these last few years, because the sheer pomposity and self-righteousness of the prime minister had been everything he disliked in politics. In life in general.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s easy to see why initially Whittaker might have had fun playing the dissolute Lord.<\/p>\n

Wittaker didn’t hide his contempt at Banford’s reaction, flicking him a look before turning his attention to the room without making a reply. It made him even more popular, even more respected among this lot, he’d found. The more contemptuous, the more dismissive he was of them, the more they tried to please him and follow his style.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But that would get old, being unable to truly be oneself around anyone.<\/p>\n

Here’s the thing about this book. Although Phoebe and James are fictional, the events of the assassination of Perceval and all the evidence and information discovered about the killer were facts discovered at the time. <\/p>\n

So the plot of someone being behind the killer is not only possible, it seems likely. Which made the mystery all the more fascinating.<\/p>\n

The romance between the two, of James actually seeing Phoebe as a person, is icing on that cake.<\/p>\n

(A) feeling gripped her that was disturbingly like desire. Not a physical desire, although he was well-built and handsome enough for her to notice him that way, but one to spend time in his company and not have to hold back or phrase what she said carefully. The freedom of a companion like that was something she had long abandoned hope of experiencing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cSo now you know the answer to a mystery the more conservative members of the ton have long exclaimed over, namely why my father, straight-laced and upstanding as he was, tolerated my outrageous behavior without cutting me off or disinheriting me. And that contrary to general wisdom, I didn’t send him to an early grave. My behavior was his idea, all along.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe shouldn’t have asked it of you. Not for so long.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She does a fantastic job making you feel precisely why Phoebe would take the risks she did, after a life of listening and obeying and following.<\/p>\n

Impotent rage, her old friend, ran a familiar hand down her back and she stiffened under its hot, prickly fingers. Why shouldn’t she speak with someone? With whomever she pleased? She was twenty-four years old, responsible, intelligent. <\/p>\n

She had all but accepted the anger and the frustration as constant companions, but Sheldrake cutting her free, the incidents of the last day, opened her eyes to how big they had grown, hulking beasts that rubbed up against her. Crowding her and making her life smaller.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s an even better part of the story than the mystery.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in London in 1812 Miss Phoebe Hillier has been prepared to follow her father’s dying wish and marry Sheldrake, but when he tells her he is ending their betrothal and leaving the country she is as much relieved as she is horrified. \u201cNo. I\u2019m . . […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,668,48,24,33,8,41,26],"tags":[402,213,874,251,547,252,875],"class_list":["post-12646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-comfort-read","category-female","category-food","category-historical","category-mystery","category-reread","category-romance","tag-baking","tag-grief","tag-john-bellingham","tag-michelle-diener","tag-napoleonic-era","tag-regency-london","tag-spenser-percival"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3hY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23712,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23712","url_meta":{"origin":12646,"position":0},"title":"A Dangerous Madness","author":"Michelle","date":"June 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener (Regency London #3) Set in London in 1812 \u201cI can't marry you, Pheebs. I know that's going to make things difficult for you and I want to go through with it, of course I do, it would solve a number of problems, but I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Dangerous Madness","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/A-Dangerous-Madness-e1510885658255.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21734,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21734","url_meta":{"origin":12646,"position":1},"title":"A Dangerous Madness","author":"Michelle","date":"March 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in England in 1812 Phoebe\u2019s betrothed's forceful whisper was as loud as her soft-spoken question, but she bit her tongue. She wondered what her tongue would look like after they\u2019d spent a lifetime together. Maybe one day she\u2019d bite it in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Dangerous Madness","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/A-Dangerous-Madness-e1510885658255.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5346,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5346","url_meta":{"origin":12646,"position":2},"title":"A Dangerous Madness","author":"Michelle","date":"August 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener Set in London in 1812. Phoebe Hillier has been engaged to Sheldrake at the instance of her father and her family, because their families were close, and because Sheldrake desperately needs her money. So when he breaks her engagement her feelings are complicated. She\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/A-Dangerous-Madness.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24422,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24422","url_meta":{"origin":12646,"position":3},"title":"A Dangerous Madness","author":"Michelle","date":"April 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener (Regency London, #3) Set in London in 1812 \u201cYou don't . . . have the time for it?\u201d Her words seemed to be coming from far, far away. \u201cNo. I\u2019m . . . well, soon I\u2019ll be in a bit of bother, m\u2019dear. Or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Dangerous Madness","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/A-Dangerous-Madness.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11626,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11626","url_meta":{"origin":12646,"position":4},"title":"A Dangerous Madness","author":"Michelle","date":"February 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener Set in England in 1812. Miss Phoebe Hillier was bethrothed to Sheldrake at the insistence of both their families. But when Sheldrake breaks their engagement, she feels relief more than anything else. 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