Camille Iverness can take care of herself. She’s done so since the day her mother abandoned the family and left Camille to run their shabby curiosity shop. But when a violent betrayal leaves her injured with no place to hide, Camille must allow a mysterious stranger to come to her aid. Jonathan Gilchrist never wanted to inherit Kettering Hall. As a second son, he was content to work as the village apothecary. But when his brother’s death made him heir just as his father’s foolish decisions put the estate at risk, only the sale of a priceless possession—a ruby called the Bevoy—can save the family from ruin. But the gem has disappeared. And all trails lead to Iverness Curiosity Shop—and the beautiful shop girl who may be the answer to his many questions. Caught at the intersection of blessings and curses, greed and deceit, these two determined souls must unite to protect what they hold dear. But when a passion that shines far brighter than any gem is ignited, they will have to decide how much they are willing to risk for their future, love, and happiness.
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In 1812 London, Camille Iverness runs her father's curiosity shop. Jonathan Gilchrist is in London working as an apothecary when he is called back home to the family estate, Kettering Hall. His father, once a wealthy lord, is now in financial dire straits and has recently discovered that a prized item in his oddities collection, the Bevoy Ruby, has been stolen. Gilchrist Sr. makes it clear he does not want the police involved. Though the relationship between Jonathan and his father is strained to say the least, it's put upon him to find the ruby and return it to Kettering Hall if there is to be any chance of saving the family fortune. Jonathan has no desire to help his father, but he understands that not trying to restore the family fortune could mean a life of financial strife and social ruination for his sister.
Jonathan travels back to London to call upon his late brother's best friend, Henry Darbin, now a private investigator. Darbin's initial investigating leads the two to suspect the Bevoy Ruby may be an item in the Iverness curiosity shop, Camille's father having a reputation around town for being a bit of a shady businessman. Camille and Jonathan meet when he comes to her aid after a cloaked man attacks and stabs Camille. Convinced that it's not safe for her to stay the night at her home, Jonathan convinces Camille to come to the London residence he shares with his sister, Penelope.
At first, Camille only means to stay the night, but when a threat to her very life is revealed, it is decided that she will travel with Jonathan and Penelope back to Kettering Hall. P.I. Darbin doesn't like how close Jonathan is keeping Camille, but Jon reasons that she is the closest link they have to discovering the location of the ruby --- though she repeatedly insists up and down that she has absolutely no information about this gem. Jon also notes that, having recently been attacked, she is a woman in distress, so he is compelled, as a gentleman and a medical professional, to be of assistance where and when he can.
"I admit that I threw quite a knot into our investigator's plan with my actions, but I would not act differently if I had the chance. The Bevoy is merely a thing. A trinket. Hardly worth the safety of a person. Besides, I am confident we will find it in time."
She knew better. Once gone, once in the underground markets and out of respectable hands, such a rarity was unlikely to reappear.
"I fear your father may not share your sentiment that the ruby is merely a trinket."
He smiled. "My father does not share a great number of my sentiments, Miss Iverness."
Jonathan and Camille get to know each other a little better once she sets up residence in his childhood home. On his suggestion, Camille applies for work at a nearby school. The Gilchrist family have long been patrons of the school, and Jonathan hopes to use his influence to nab her some sort of position on the staff there, even though she has minimal experience in that environment. Jon comes to see Camille --- at least in some small way --- as a kind of kindred spirit, mostly in the fact that they've both struggled with strained relationships with their respective fathers, a fact made undeniably evident when Jonathan witnesses James Iverness throw his daughter out on the streets the day after her attack.
Aside from the attack near the beginning of the story and some intrigue near the end, when certain characters reveal a secret side to their personalities (as well as secrets surrounding the Bevoy itself being revealed), very little in the way of action happens in this story. It's pretty much kept to a scene change or two punctuated by numerous slow, quiet conversations.
The dialogue has an odd flow at times. It was particularly noticeable with Penelope. Though, yes, she is a woman of "high breeding", as they say, her words from time to time came off a little stiff and overly formal for the company she was addressing, especially since her character is a young woman, not an elderly, stuffy dame type.
Jonathan is an admirably stand-up kind of guy, with a good moral code, despite his family's objections to him working in a "lowly" profession. The proposed romance between him and Camille was certainly under-developed. It was a good friendship at best, considering they hardly spent any "alone time" together, and the time they did spend in each other's company was strongly platonic in nature, hardly any signs of flirtation ever.... beyond the occasional slight grin across a room. There's some opportunity for them to grow close at one point when Camille works as Jonathan's assistant during a scarlet fever outbreak, but even then we see only the faintest roots developed for the bond one might expect to lead to forever love.
All in all, a mystery set up to be potentially captivating... and while entertaining, the plot ultimately suffered from being built on several underdeveloped points that never quite hit satisfactory fruition.
FTC DISCLAIMER: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
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