In the world of British spies, James Locke has a reputation as a master safe cracksman, which makes him a very valuable commodity in the Great Game between England and Russia. However, on the night he breaks into the safe of a Russian sympathizer, hoping to find a list of British operatives which contains his name at the top, he is stunned to witness a valuable necklace remove itself from the safe and then float out of the house. He gives chase, and tracks the necklace to the home of the Havershaws, a family of women who have recently moved to London and who only accept visitors during daylight hours. Intrigued, James returns the following day in disguise, and learns that Lusinda Havershaw, the oldest of three sisters who lived with their Aunt Eugenia, helps people to recover items which have been unlawfully taken. James hires Lusinda under false pretenses, and then sets a trap in the study of his home, determined to figure out what tricks she uses to achieve her mystical thievery.

Lusinda isn't certain that she trusts the man who has hired her to recover his watch, but her talent for invisibility which she inherited from her mother, a member of the race of Nevidimi from Russia, has allowed her to keep food on the table ever since her parents died eight years earlier. Her caution is proved justified, however, when James traps her with a net when she ventures into his home in search of the stolen watch. James at first thinks she is a magician of sorts, until his hands encounter a flesh and blood woman who is completely naked. With her secret revealed, Lusinda decides to flee London with her family, but James offers her a second option; become a British operative and use her talents to help him with his work and in exchange, he will provide amply for the needs of her family.

Lusinda knows that her unusual ability prevents her from the possibility of a normal life, but she's determined to help her aunt and sisters, so she reluctantly accepts James's offer. Her one condition is that no one is to know her true identity or the nature of her invisibility, which is brought on by exposure to moonlight. But over the next few weeks, Lusinda is dismayed to realize that she's falling in love with James, the first man who has understood her secret and still finds her beautiful, both in the moonlight and out. She finds herself yearning for a future which can never be, for James has told her that he will never marry because of the danger inherent in the life of a spy and besides, what man would want a wife he can't see? Is Lusinda destined to forever live a lonely existence, just because of a little trouble with moonlight?

THE TROUBLE WITH MOONLIGHT is an entertaining story which allows the reader to indulge in an intriguing game of "what if". The difficulties inherent in invisibility are deftly handled by Donna MacMeans, both from a physical and emotional standpoint, and James, Lusinda and Aunt Eugenia are wonderful characters. I would have enjoyed a little more depth in the characters of Lusinda's sister Portia and James's friend Marcus, and the moments of intimacy between James and Lusinda were largely glossed over, as if the author wished to avoid writing love scenes, but taken as a whole, the story was intriguing and fun to read. A good choice for a warm summer night filled with moonlight.