Yorkshire, England. August 1832. Relations between Sebastian Gage and his father have never been easy, especially since the discovery that Lord Gage has been concealing the existence of an illegitimate son. But when Lord Gage is nearly fatally attacked on a journey to Scotland, Sebastian and Kiera race to his side. Given the tumult over the recent passage of the Reform Bill and the Anatomy Act, in which Lord Gage played a part, Sebastian wonders if the attack could be politically motivated.
But something suspicious is afoot in the sleepy village where Lord Gage is being cared for. The townspeople treat Sebastian and Kiera with hostility when it becomes clear they intend to investigate, and rumors of mysterious disappearances and highway robberies plague the area. Lord Gage’s survival is far from assured, and Sebastian and Kiera must scramble to make the pieces fit before a second attempt at murder is more successful than the first.
Comment: This is the 11th installment in the Lady Darby series by author Anna Lee Huber, which I've been buddy reading with a friend for several months now.
In this new story Kiera and Sebastian, along with lord Henry, are traveling as quickly as possible to reach Sebastian's father, who was attacked in Scotland. They discover him still recovering from a surgery and a lot more ill than what they assumed, but dr Baker, the doctor who helped him and in whose house he is recovering, did what was necessary, Now lord Gage needs rest but that is surely to be difficult since his relationship with his son has never been easy and it also seems the attack might not have been as random as it seemed at first. However, the more Kiera and Sebastian investigate, the more muddled the information... who is telling the truth and why would someone need to lie anyway?
As always, entering a new story about these characters is quite a treat. When a long series is seen as a comfort rather than a duty, it can make all the difference and it has been the opinion of my friend and mine that this is like spending time with people we care about and whom we want to see how they are doing. This one was also a lot more focused on Sebastian, for obvious reasons.
The plot has, I'd say, two main themes being explored. We have the investigation of lord Gage's attack and who might be behind it, and then the interaction dynamics between the main characters. I keep thinking this is a good series in this regard, in the sense that it's not only about how engaging an investigation is or how clever the design of what happens, but mainly because we can maintain the interest in the characters' lives and their emotional state.
The investigation into the attack on lord Gage has a mix of possibilities, including the idea someone wanting to have revenge on him for things he did in the past. I will confess I wasn't particularly interested in this theme, for more than what it meant in terms of what would our main characters do. I was more curious to see how this situation would affect them and how would they react to information coming out of learning what lord Gage did and how it might affected his behavior, including how he treats Sebastian and lord Henry.
In this regard, this was quite the story. Nothing happens in a miraculous way and relationships didn't get perfect simply because lord Gage is ill, but I did like the advance made in bringing father and son closer and, also, in how lord Gage shared something from his past and his (apparent) attempt to become a more patient man. Since the story is told by Kiera, of course that a lot about these family dynamics are seen through her descriptions or we know about something when someone tells Kiera, but it's one of those especially well done situations in which the narrator's voice is compelling and Kiera's certainly is so.
While investigating what happened to lord Gage and why it seems people nearby to the place where he was attacked have dubious attitudes, Kiera also starts suspecting that something else is not as it should and that there is, in fact, a secondary little mystery to investigate. This different subject doesn't really pertain to the main investigation but it adds layers to the characters involved and I've found it to be a great little extra, still never stealing the attention of the key situations.
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