Owen Renderwell once worked for Scotland Yard. His work
won him the title of Viscount, and while he no longer works
for the Yard, his help has been requested in a series of
baffling robberies and a murder. A series of coded letters
have been found which has such a unique code, that no one
has been able to break it.
These letters lead Owen and a couple of his close friends
to the Bales household. A master conman and master
cryptographer, Mr. Walker was helping the police with a
case when he died. The Walker children were given new
names when their father died and moved to a small village.
Owen and Miss Charlotte Bales worked closely together
during the case which lead to her father's death. She has
never forgiven him for those events.
Due to the fact that Charlotte knew the madam who was
killed, she agrees to allow the men to go through her
father's papers. As they work together to find the source
of the code, their mutual attraction begins to assert
itself. The deeper they get, the more Charlotte learns her
father lied to
her all her life leaving her
emotionally vulnerable.
Alissa Johnson has been writing Regencies for some time but
this story is a departure from her other books. A TALENT
FOR TRICKERY
deals with the darker side of Regency London.
Ms. Johnson clearly did some extensive research on her
subject. A TALENT FOR TRICKERY is an interesting read
because of the
details that gives insight into the mind of an intelligent
conman. Watching the relationship between Charlotte and
Owen re-develop is intriguing as they moved through the
dangerous territory of their past.
The Lady is a Thief
Years ago, Owen Renderwell earned acclaim-and a title-for
the dashing rescue of a kidnapped duchess. But only a
select
few knew that Scotland Yard's most famous detective was
working alongside London's most infamous thief...and his
criminally brilliant daughter, Charlotte Walker.
Lottie was like no other woman in Victorian England. She
challenged him. She dazzled him. She questioned everything
he believed and everything he was, and he has never wanted
anyone more. And then he lost her.
Now a private detective on the trail of a murderer, Owen
has
stormed back into Lottie's life. She knows that no matter
what they may pretend, he will always be a man of the law
and she a criminal. Yet whenever he's near, Owen has a way
of making things complicated...and long for a future that
can never be theirs.