strange and random happenstance: Prussians

A Question of Numbers by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: April 8th, 2019
Format: Kindle, 378 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Saybrook and Arianna are doing his uncle, Lord Mellon, a favor. The alliances needed to defeat Napoleon are tenuous at best and everyone in London is on tenterhooks. Therefore when Lord Mellon is approached by a Prussian saying that he has proof of someone working against the alliance and that he will only speak to Arianna it's the least Arianna can do to hear this man out. After all Arianna still feels bad they weren't able to stop Napoleon from leaving Elba and she'll do what needs to be done to save more lives. But the Prussian, a delightful man who loved Shakespeare, Count Grunwald, is murdered before their rendezvous. Perhaps by a deadly assassin. Arianna doesn't know who the Count suspected but he thankfully left clues knowing that his own life was in danger. One of the clues is quite shocking. Saybrook and Arianna have often been forced to work with Lord Grentham. Lord Grentham's second in command, Pierson, was assumed killed during their previous mission on Elba. But the signet ring that Count Grunwald was clutching would indicate otherwise. This means that if Pierson were to break at the hands of his inquisitors the alliance could be lost as he holds a key piece of information that could turn the tide of war. Saybrook and Arianna though are more worried about rescuing their friend. Because if the French need leverage against Pierson they are sure to find it in Brussels, where Pierson's illegitimate daughter Emma is residing. The French are sure to seek her out so Saybrook, Arianna, and their whole crew, as Aunt Constantina and Sophia also insist on accompanying them, are heading to Brussels, to rescue a girl, and if they're lucky, her father as well. But in the whirl of the beau monde as they try to eek out one more day of pleasure as war comes swiftly on cats paws can Saybrook and Arianna find the truth or will they be distracted by spectacles and riddles that prove enigmatic. And what about the woman from Sandro's past, Paloma Marone-Cinzano? Is she a friend or a foe? And who is the father of her child?

I recently got around to watching the 2018 Vanity Fair miniseries, which aside from the weird musical choices at the end of each episode is probably my favorite version now, and I was once again struck with the weird dichotomy of the Battle of Waterloo happening mere steps away from the ton partying in Brussels like there's no tomorrow. But in fairness there might not have been a tomorrow, as Wellington himself said it was "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life." It's so hard to wrap one's head around this luxurious and ostentatious lifestyle happening concurrently with Napoleon cutting a swath through the continent during the Hundred Days. "Heaven forfend that the prospect of death and destruction interfere with the beau monde’s pleasures." Like many people my first introduction to the Regency era was through the works of Jane Austen, so my Napoleonic history was sketchy, at best. Which is one of the reasons I took British History in college, I wanted to know more. But my first introduction to Waterloo was actually via Thackeray's classic Vanity Fair. And I really thought it was fiction and not truth. I mean, seriously, this is an example of truth being stranger than fiction. Which is what I love about A Question of Numbers. Andrea Penrose perfectly captures this weird world that feels fictitious. The sojourns to the park to take a stroll and get the latest gossip on the impending invasion. You know, just a normal day. But Andrea really brings home the dark underbelly that is hidden beneath the balls and the ballgowns. All the nefarious dealings and struggles of spy versus spy. All the little players who played their part and, with a bit of luck, brought home a British victory at the cost of so many lives. In fact I couldn't help but feel that this volume of Arianna and Sandro's adventures was a bit of a Russian epic. That fighting despite the futility of war, though thankfully without any of our leads ending up under a train.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments

Labels: A Question of Numbers, Adaptation, Andrea Penrose, Arianna Hadley, Battle of Waterloo, Brussels, Elba, Lord Grentham, Napoleon, Prussians, Regency Romp, Sandro, Spies, Thackeray, The Duke of Wellington, Vanity Fair

The Stolen Letters by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: September 4th, 2017
Format: Kindle, 138 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Lady Stirling, Constantina as she is known to her beloved family, or The Dragon as she is known to the ton, is in a quandary. Yet she doesn't want to tell her nephew, as he's involved in government and it could be quite compromising for him, and she doesn't want to tell her great-nephew because while she knows Sandro could help her it's very personal. Therefore she turns to Sandro's wife, Arianna. Constantina knows that Arianna is the real brains behind all the cases that Sandro and she have solved. She also knows that Arianna can keep a secret. Arianna's past is dark and treacherous and something she doesn't talk of, therefore she is the perfect person to help Constantina. Constantina has been foolish. At her age in life she has developed a tendre. Her paramour is French, which given the current peace talks isn't as shocking as it could be. But apparently the contents of their letters are quite shocking, and they have gone missing along with some very sensitive political documents. Constantina is asking Arianna to find the documents and return them to their rightful owner. The problem is, there are literally no clues and too many suspects. Was it the British? Or how about the Russians or the Prussians or anyone else involved in jockeying for more power at the peace conference. When Arianna is approached by Lord Grentham she at least knows it's not the British because they want the documents, supposedly to just keep them safe until after an important meeting, but can Grentham be trusted? No. But he's willing to offer her the identity of the thieves if she will herself retrieve the documents. She agrees because it's better to bargain with the devil you know. The Prussians have the documents and Arianna can steal them back at an upcoming party for the diplomats. First Constantina needs to get Sandro out of town, because he's too clever by half. Second they need an invite, which is gotten through Constantina's nephew at the behest of Lord Grentham. Third they need more help, so they enlist Sophie Kirtland to the coterie. What could possibly go wrong? Oh yeah, the Russians.

The Lady Arianna Regency Mysteries were a serendipitous find at my local Barnes and Noble. It's a precious memory to me of the day I first stumbled on the series because my Dad and I went to the store together and then he said the magic words; "I'll pay." Not wanting to be greedy or bankrupt my father I was very careful in my selections, in fact looking at my database, now don't judge because I have a database of books and you don't, I can see I bought the first two books in this series and well as Cinder by Marissa Meyer and The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg. This series was an obvious must buy with two of my favorite authors, Lauren Willig and Tasha Alexander, both having pull quotes on the cover. But after Recipe for Treason I no longer saw additional volumes. Sometimes I am oddly lazy and don't go online to see what is up with series ending, probably because we rarely get answers, I'm looking at you Madelyn Alt! But when preparing to romp through the Regency and knowing Andrea was going to be a part of Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation Read Along I thought, well, I'll include the Lady Arianna series. So I looked it up and was shocked, there were more books!?! After a five year gap Andrea started self-publishing the further adventures of Arianna and Sandro! I obviously bought them all and am now devouring them at a rapacious rate. The Stolen Letters is a little novella bridging the traditionally published books and the new eBooks. And while I really like the whole "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" vibe the whole lying to Sandro stuck in my craw. Years ago I remember my friend Jess and I discussing the whole trope of lying to your significant other. We were both obsessed with Audrey Tautou at the time and were watching all her films and had rented The Spanish Apartment. Now a BIG plot point in this movie is the flatmates helping one of their number to cheat on their significant other. We both agreed that this just made us cringe. It's just wrong. Sure, here there's justification because Arianna is helping her husband's relative and she has asked her to keep it secret from him. But that's just not on. Constantina should not have asked this of Arianna OR Arianna should have told Constantina why she had to tell Sandro. Either way, it's a trope that is common and all too cringe.