The Hanover Square Affair: Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries

"Period mystery set in Regency England, introducing Cpt Lacey, hot tempered veteran of the Peninsula war and amateur detective. It's derivative but good fun nevertheless. The characters are well sketched. Cpt Lacey is his own worst enemy, trying to do the honourable thing, but cursed with pride and a huge chip on his shoulder, not to mention a gammy leg and fits of depression. We're on familiar ground with the Regency period. We've all seen the Jane Austen adaptations, so it's easy to visualise the clothes and the street life. The story's various threads are resolved by the end, but the author is skilled enough so it flows quite naturally and she resists the urge to link everything neatly together..." "I'm loving this book, it really is well written and captures the period atmosphere so well. The details of Regency London are well researched. Captain Lacey is such a well drawn character, so sympathetic and complicated by all his problems from the army, yet an upright, honourable man. You really care what happens to him and he seems so authentic. It makes it interesting being written in the first person. It also makes a change that, although a gentleman, he is not an aristocrat and he struggles to get by on his army half pay. The story keeps you guessing and it is a well constructed thriller, with interesting minor charactors..."

미스터리, 역사 허구 소설, 역사 미스터리, 리젠시 픽션 등 다양하게 분류될 수 있는 소설이다. 시대 배경이 1816년대 이기 때문에 묘사되는 내용이나 언급되는 역사적 사실들이 독자에 따라서 좀 생소하기도 하고 좀 지루하다고 느낄 수 있다. 하지만 글의 분위기가 좀 익숙해지면 이 책의 매력을 알게 된다. 처음부터 끝까지 독자의 관심을 끄는 사건들이 계속 발생하고 주인공의 추리와 범죄자를 쫓는 주인공과 그의 조력자들의 모습은 이 책이 가지는 좋은 점인 거 같다. 현대소설에 등장하는 다양한 최신장비는 말할 것도 없이 전화기도 등장하지 않지만 사건을 풀어가는 이야기 전개는 속도감이 있다. 독자에 따라서 초반 부분이 힘들 수도 있다. 

"But does one crime negate another?" ... "I've shot men who were doing their best to shoot me, I've plunged my saber into men who were trying to plunge their bayonets into me. Does it make me - or Aimee, or Josette - any less guilty?" 라는 문장이 인상에 남는 문장이다.