Point of Honour

The action of Point of Honour takes place in an alt-Regency England: one where there’s a Queen-Regent (because Prinny’s only and acknowledged marriage is to Mrs Fitzherbert), where Fallen Women take noms d’amour (like Miss Tolerance), and where women have their own clubs just as the men have Brook’s or Boodle’s (and where Miss Tolerance, who supports herself as an Agent of Inquiry rather than as a prostitute, meets her clients).

I really enjoyed this! It’s a nice mash-up of Austen/mystery noir/historical romp—gowns! murders! escapes on horseback!—which was exactly what I was in the mood for. The lead character, Sarah Tolerance, is methodical and practical and skilled with a sword, but Madeleine Robins doesn’t fall into show more the trap of having her be Not Like the Other Girls or Ahead of Her Time. There’s a matter-of-fact reference, for instance, to her sitting and darning a basket of socks which I appreciated, because of course a woman living in straitened circumstances in the 1810s would be doing that herself! I also respected the fact that Robins followed through on the emotional costs of the plot.

There are a couple of wobbles with the language, though less than you normally find in Regency pastiches; other issues with the history are minor and easy to handwave as a result of the historical divergence. Overall, great fun and I will definitely be trying to track down the second book in this series. show less

So what if English history was a bit different? That's the underlying premise of this story of Sarah Tolerance, who, though a "fallen woman" (after all, she ran off with her fencing master when she was young, and now that he had the discourtesy of dying, must fend for herself) refuses to join the ranks of other soiled doves and become a courtesan or prostitute. Instead, she carves out a living as an investigator of sorts. Miss Tolerance finds herself involved in a case to find a missing Italian Fan. There are a number of convoluted plot elements, including the reshaping of the British monarchy. Though it is 1810, with King George III is thoroughly mad and his wife Queen Charlotte is acting as Regent. As the hunt for the fan continues, show more political snaggles between Tory and Whig parties ensure. Thank goodness Sarah's blade skills are as sharp as her brain, for she has cause to use both.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and look forward to more in the series. My only criticism one I raise at other books -- how come so many women have the inevitable gay best friend, and how do I get one? show less

Miss Sarah Tolerance is a worthy successor to Elizabeth Bennet. Years before she eloped with her brother's fencing instructor; now, with a ruined reputation, she has returned to London. She has too much pride to become a whore, and is to female and well-bred for most other occupations, and so out of the back of her aunt's brothel she sets herself up as a private investigator. Years of training with her fencing paramour, and a good wit and sensibility, have served her well, but then a routine search for an Italian fan turns lethal. I absolutely love Sarah, the writing style is clean and serves the story well, and I really enjoyed the twists of the mystery. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves [book: Pride and Prejudice] and swordplay.

For the first ten or twenty pages, I was worried that the author had mistaken verbosity and the odd archaic word for style, but that preciousness drops off after the plot picks up.

Overall, a fun page-turner and I'll be looking for the next one in the series.

Interesting story about a woman in a world quite like ours but a little different which the author explains in a postscript. Sarah ran away with her brother's fencing master, when he dies she returns to London to live. Her aunt runs a brothel and Sarah finds space in a property she owns on the site of the brothel and sets herself up as an Enquiry Agent. She's comissioned to find a fan that hides a secret that could take down the government abut the bodies start piliing up.

A winning heroine and a twisty story of betrayal and politics. A major typo on the first page, in the first paragraph no less, worried at me like a loose tooth but after dropping into the narrative like a stone, I stopped going back to it. The characters were well-drawn, though ultimately the tension relied on characters that behaved out of character. Not my favorite authorial hat trick, but the plot kept things going, and the unconventional heroine was so well drawn that she became credible.

3.5 stars

I like this book; I'm not sure why I don't love it. It's well written, has some fun AU worldbuilding, and has a suitably twisty mystery. Something kept me at a distance from it, but I would recommend it to anyone who reads the summary and says, "That sounds like something I'd like."