Enjoy this series very much. Her perfect manners and demeanor belie what her side line is and her reasoning for practicing it. Am sorry there are only five books in this series.
The fourth and last Miss Melville mystery (some sites claim there are 5, but there aren't). Socialite-turned-assassin Miss Melville is now a wealthy artist, but her acquaintance Andy from a shadowy government agency still presses her to take a job for them - kill the hated Begum of Gandistan. Miss Melville doesn't see why she should do this, her days are full what with painting and attending various charity events. She's persuaded by an old acquaintance to visit Rundle House, a home for unwed pregnant teens, but it's quickly obvious there is something nefarious going on there. When an old frenemy long out of the country suddenly reappears, both Miss Melville and the reader will realize her other identity.
The first book in this series was very funny, the second not so much, and then Smith seemed to get back in the groove again. It's best when Miss Melville is contemplating how she's going to knock someone off and I do like Smith's mocking humor of life amongst New York's elite. The whole idea of this well-bred assassin, who can calmly shoot scores of people but can't bring herself to be impolite to anyone, or even tell off her incompetent maid, makes me grin. I loved the bit where she's at Bloomingdales, evaluating handbags on whether they can hide a gun (she should come to where I live in AZ, I know at least 3 stores...).
The first book in this series was very funny, the second not so much, and then Smith seemed to get back in the groove again. It's best when Miss Melville is contemplating how she's going to knock someone off and I do like Smith's mocking humor of life amongst New York's elite. The whole idea of this well-bred assassin, who can calmly shoot scores of people but can't bring herself to be impolite to anyone, or even tell off her incompetent maid, makes me grin. I loved the bit where she's at Bloomingdales, evaluating handbags on whether they can hide a gun (she should come to where I live in AZ, I know at least 3 stores...).
The impeccable Miss Melville returns in a scintillating adventure that tops all her previous forays. Enjoying a total immersion in her artistic career, Miss Melville is between jobs, doing what society women do, charitably supporting the Rundle Home for Wayward Girls---and resisting an invitation from the government to assassinate the power-hungry Begum of Gandistan, a ruthless woman whose son has just ascended to the throne following the unfortunate deaths of his father and all of his siblings.
