India Black was so much more than I expected, I absolutely adored this book. India is a wonderful, sassy, hilarious & brilliant character, plus she has this devil may care attitude which is perfect being that she's a madam.

 

I'll admit I did a little happy dance when I discovered that there is more adventures. Ridiculously excited to get my digits onto those!!

 

4 Stars.

How nice!  An action/adventure spy book that is likely to appeal strongly to women!  India Black is a tough-as-nails madam who is the proprietor of a whorehouse that serves gentlemen of position and quality in Victorian London.  Through some misadventure India finds herself enlisted in Her Majesty's Service to help retrieve some sensitive state documents lost by one of the public officials who frequented India's er, establishment.  Intrigue, action, adventure, and humor ensue.

India's profession takes a backseat in this story, but it does provide a plausible way in which a Victorian woman would find herself mixing with male politicians, which is a significant hurdle to overcome if you want to have a story about a woman spy set in that time.  I appreciated that the author chose this profession for India, but that she did not turn this book into erotica.  This was a spy novel.

The book was fairly repetitive in places, and there were several improbable devices used in the story.  At times the language and phraseology was too modern and rang as a little out of place.  But who cares?  The story was fun, India was a heroine to root for, and you know, not once did the author resort to having India and her male co-spy fall in love, or fall into bed.  This was just a fun adventure that didn't take itself too seriously.  It read quickly, and made me eager to read the next India Black story.  Hopefully the next book will be a little tighter without sacrificing any adventure or fun.

This book totally hinges on whether or not you like India as a narrator. She's an unapologetic madam & whore, cynical about her customers, employees and the politicians she becomes entangled with. She's a hard hearted pragmatist and if you need narrators more sympathetic and nice, then look elsewhere. I liked that she was what a survivor in those circumstances usually is, like it or not the "Disney Whores" (TM someone from Dear Author) that so often populate fiction wouldn't really last long in the world. It's the ones like India who survive. So, anyway, I liked her, her narration and her cynical observances. This wasn't a mystery so much as a spy thriller, the plot isn't about who dunnit, but about trying to steal back stolen information. And if Vincent was a bit too much of a plot device and if there was a bit too much of India thinking they had the situation well in hand just before it all fell apart, it is a first book. I'm looking forward to the others in the series.

Excellent first novel.

 

I was amused and enthused from the first chapter. The book is categorised as an "historical mystery" but there really isn't much mystery involved. A lot of the story reads a bit like keystone cops play spy, but truly, I found the book entertaining and the characters interesting enough for me to care what happened to them. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

The humor ranks a strong four; the "mystery/espionage" aspect barely three. I definitely will try more of these books, when available. India is delightfully snarky. :-)