The Hanover Square Affair

by Ashley Gardner
Book 1 of Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries

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I sat down at my desk and started surfing other's book blogs before I remembered that I hadn't quite written this book's review yet.  As much as I hate to say this, The Hanover Square Affair was not the most memorable book.  In fact, my reading experience was quite an uphill-downhill, and then up again and down again kind of experience.  Even while reading the book, I started getting sidetracked and forgetting what was going on.  And then after finishing the book, I even forgot to brainstorm this review.

So, to be short and brief on this one--for real this time, since my "short and brief" reviews always end in rambling sessions--The Hanover Square Affair was enjoyable during the reading of it.  There was excitement and I DID find myself sort of caught up in Captain Gabriel Lacey's curious investigation.  The mystery was quite serviceable.  But a lot of other moments seemed to run in side tangent, or drag on and become almost boring--these scenes I tended to forget about after a while and had to work to recall events that were brought up at later times in the book.

More than anything, I had no rapport with the characters; and when I feel detached from the characters, I tend to stop caring about what happens to them.  Maybe the good Captain Lacey was the only character I really did find myself caring about, but I also found his passionate behavior a little extreme and hot-headed.  I'm not saying that's a bad thing--he's a uniquely created main character and I like that he comes off different than other main male heroes I often see in many other books.  To be honest, I really don't have much to complain about Captain Lacey at all, and if I were to pick up the next book in this series, it would be because of him.

As it is, I really DID enjoy following Captain Lacey's narration a lot.

But I still stand that I found the rest of the characters in the book to be like mere background noise.  Even Grenville, who's eccentric and intriguing personality would merit some interest on my behalf didn't quite sit well with me.  I liked him just fine.  I also kind of liked that he's fairly honest to Captain Lacey about his motives.  I just maybe think that, since you don't get to see much in his perspective (since this book is written in first person from Lacey's POV), that you don't really get to know Grenville as more than just a bored, wealthy benefactor to Captain Lacey without much else going for him aside from his biographical eccentricities.

I would love to see more from Grenville's point of view, to be honest.

The rest of the characters had their own characterizations.  But those characterizations felt flat and boring.


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Kind of an insubstantial read for me. The mystery didn't really hook me too grandly, I felt we weren't given enough of Lacey to get to know him well, and the various reveals towards the end felt a little bit clunky and rushed.

I liked Grenville, though.

A nice filler read, but not something I could sink my teeth into. I might well end up grabbing the sequel(s) to have something easy to flick through when needed - and because I'm really seeing The Hanover Square Affair as an introductory book to outline characters, rather than a full-blown tale in itself.

Hoping we get to know Gabriel Lacey a bit better and that he gets his life sorted out, really.

I actually bought this book all the way back on 8/28/11. It was free when I grabbed out, & is still free - I think that the author has somehow gotten it to permafree status in an effort to interest readers in the Captain Lacey mystery series.

Historical mysteries are one of my personal reading kryptonites - I love them, and have a number of favorite series. This one is written by Jennifer Ashley under her pseudonym Ashley Gardner. Jennifer Ashley is published by Berkeley, and is probably best known for her highland series. The Mackenzies, which starts with The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie, which made a bit of a stir when it was published back in 2011. Her Captain Lacey series is self-published - it is a ten book series, and all of the books are $2.99 or less.

I'm not quite sure why I never actually read this book after downloading it, but, hey, better late than never.

Overall, it's a pretty good read, with a lot of potential to develop into a very enjoyable series. The protagonist is a former army captain, who has lost his position because of a problem with a superior officer and former friend who is married to a woman with whom Captain Lacey has a very unusual relationship. Now that the Napoleonic wars are over, he is out of a job, and is living a bit hand to mouth. He's a gentleman, but without independent resources. He takes it upon himself to track down a young woman of good family who has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. 

I have a couple of series to catch up on - I just broke down and bought the last two Maggie Hopes, and the last two Bess Crawfords. But I also have the second book in this series, and am interested to see if book 2 measures up to, or even exceeds, book 1.