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.