Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Sans Pareil Mystery (Detective Lavender, Bk 2)

The Sans Pareil Mystery (Detective Lavender, Bk 2)
cathyskye avatar reviewed on + 2261 more book reviews


This follow-up to the first Detective Lavender mystery, The Heiress of Linn Hagh, is set in an actual theatre of the time that was run by a woman. And speaking of women, Lavender's love interest, the beautiful Spanish Magdalena, plays a much more important role in this book-- both as lover and in having her share of the action. In that day attitudes towards Catholics generally were not at all sympathetic, especially the opinions of people in authority. If Lavender marries Magdalena, it could be a career-ending (or at least -limiting) move. It will be interesting to see how Charlton deals with this in future books.

The pacing of The Sans Pareil Mystery tends to be slow until just before the end when all the pieces of the puzzle start coming together. It's a solid entry in this fledgling series and holds a great deal of promise for the future.