B
Genre: Historical: European, Mystery/Thriller
This review is for both the narrative and the audiobook of The Hanover Square Affair. I listened to this book after learning about the series during our SBTB Book Club Chat for Death Below Stairs, also by Jennifer Ashley/Ashley Gardner.
This is the first book in the Captain Lacey mystery series: Captain Lacey is living a pale, uncertain existence following the Napoleonic wars. He’s not financially doing well, he suffers from depression and from the pain of a poorly-healed injury, and he’s emotionally grieving for a number of things, some of which are revealed in this book and some which are only alluded to.
The mystery begins immediately when Lacey sees soldiers and a small angry mob outside of a house on Hanover Square. An older man is yelling at the house, and Lacey immediately recognizes the man’s grief and desperation. One short scene later, the man has been shot by an inexperienced soldier, and his commander, someone with whom Lacey has a bad history, ignores everything and leaves Lacey to deal with a man bleeding on the street.
Once Lacey gets involved, the story of why the man was hollering at an empty house grows larger and more complicated. Trigger warnings for rape, assault, and other crimes I don’t want to specify as they’d be a spoiler. Bad shit happens to people, especially young women, in this story, so I’m not entirely sure I can continue with the series. The mystery is twisty and challenging, and the culprit was not easy to spot, but the crimes and related incidents were often difficult for me to listen to as I walked.
What kept me going with this book was Lacey himself, and the relationships he builds in the first book. There are people from his past who haven’t given up on him, people who remain in the periphery of his life even though he won’t forgive them, and people whose acquaintance builds into a lovely, interesting friendship. His interactions with Grenville, a very wealthy man with tons of money and not a lot that interests him, were by far my favorite part.
I’m a weird reader for mystery stories: I struggle with depictions of violence, but am always curious about the puzzle presented by mystery narratives. Cozy mysteries sometimes work for me, but too often the murder is as substantial as one of those ancillary video game characters who dissolve after they’re dead and don’t leave any loot behind. The way the murders that occur are treated as insubstantial in some cozy mysteries bothers me just as much as violence. In this novel, the way women were treated and the crimes and slights against them were connected in a way that ultimately constructed a larger commentary on the status and position of women in varying class levels at the time. As much as I enjoyed the emerging subtle commentary, the violence itself was tough for me.
I very much enjoyed the performance by James Gillies. His style included subtle shifts in the voices and accents for different characters, so I sometimes knew who was speaking before they were described. I also appreciated the contrasting way in which he performed action scenes and deliberative or quieter moments of the story. As an audiobook, this story is a terrific listening experience…which makes the final grade difficult to identify.
I’d give the story a B- overall. As much as I looked forward to continuing the book each day at dog walking time, I found the final resolution of the crimes that occurred unsatisfying. The revelation of who did what to whom was sort of matter-of-fact for me, and I expected more of a surprise. That said, the audio performance kept me very engaged through my disappointment with the narrative. I’m going to average that to a B.
Question for those of you who have read or listened to this series: are the next few books as violent, and do they all feature crimes against women? Shall I continue?
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Great review. I’m actually curious what device/app you use for your audiobook dog walking, since I’m still trying to find the perfect one!
The mystery begins immediately when Lacey sees soldiers and a small angry mob outside of a house on Hanover Square. An older man is yelling at the house, and Lacey immediately recognizes the man’s grief and desperation. One short scene later, the man has been shot by an inexperienced soldier, and his commander, someone with whom Lacey has a bad history, ignores everything and leaves Lacey to deal with a man bleeding on the street.
It’s too early in the morning for reading comprehension, so I saw the woman-with-dress-falling-off cover typical of a romance, didn’t retain information from the preceding paragraph, and thought it was cool that Lacey, who is obviously the heroine falling out of her dress, had all this perception, interesting backstory, and ability to deal with bleeding men.
What I’m trying to say is: whoadamn, that is a tragically misleading cover.
“Bad things happening to women” is exactly why I couldn’t finish this book. Not only that, I felt like the violence was written in a way that was meant to be titillating and it made me angry.
I actually thought about throwing my paperback away and I never do that.
@Jill Q. – I’ve only thrown a book away once in my life, but I have put a few in the recycle bin.
I too, love Captain Lacey and he’s the reason I keep coming back to the series along with the characterization in general. There is violence and some of it centered on women, but sadly it’s very true to the circumstances surrounding the plot 🙁 The later books don’t seem to be quite as gory but there’s still a good deal of menace wrapped up in Captain Lacey’s tales.
I haven’t listened to any of the audiobooks, but I’m a fan of this series, mostly because of Lacey. I really love the romance that develops for him over time, slowly providing a source of joy and salvation. I don’t recall the later books being especially gory, but my threshold may be different than yours.
I suggest you continue! I have myself just finished all the Captain Lacey mysteries currently available and am on pre-order for the next one – that’s how wonderful I have found them to be. I think your assessment of the Captain himself and his friends is spot on – wonderful people. I wasn’t triggered by the violence – I’m a history major and know it comes with the era. But mainly the rest of the mysteries are fun puzzles, and he solves them in a wonderful way. I don’t think you should give up on the series.
It looks like the Kindle book is free!
FYI: The book is currently available for free to Kindle readers at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004O4C1AK/?tag=trashybooks-20&pldnSite=1
and a collection of the first three novels in the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries series plus two Captain Lacey short stories is on sale for 99 cents at https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Lacey-Regency-Mysteries-One-ebook/dp/B006YZ0OOM/ref=la_B001ITTPPS_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1522258253&sr=1-3&refinements=p_82%3AB001ITTPPS
I’ve read and enjoyed the series. I agree with Susan’s thoughts listed above.
Capt. Lacey has a special place in my heart as my Kindle died halfway through this book! ARGHHHHHH! The budget does not currently stretch far enough so I anxiously hoping for a sale on Paperwhite soon so I can finish. I was enjoying it immensely.
Have you read Anne Perry’s Thomas Pitt or Inspector Monk series? Your review sounds like they are similar in background.
I have read both from Anne Perry. Those series are more in the Victorian era (which I dislike), the Captain Lacey are in the Regency period. Plus, I felt like the Lacey series had a warmer tone than the mysteries from Anne Perry. Sort of like comparing a “cozy” mystery to a regular mystery series, if that makes any sense.
@Barb: That makes total sense to me. There is definitely a lot of tone and style difference in different types of mysteries.
And thank you y’all for all your comments and advice. I really appreciate your perspectives!
I remember reading the first part of this book a few years ago – and then wandering off to write Grenville/Lacey fanfic as I found their relationship more interesting than anything else in the book. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Amara: Me too! I got really disappointed when I realized that it wasn’t going that way. If anyone know of similar mysteries that are m/m I would be all over that.
I’ve read them all and enjoyed them. I have not been disappointed with any of the endings, except for to be annoyed on occasion by a plot line that isn’t closed, to keep me interested in reading the next book.