Death at Dawn

A thoroughly enjoyable historical novel! Normally, I loathe overly independent and contemporary sounding heroines, but Peacock's Liberty Lane is quite endearing. Her actions, even if socially unusual, seemed realistic and had grounding in the story. I found her very likable and sympathetic. The plot was fast paced, interesting, filled with details without being cumbersome. A very fun read!

The Liberty Lane books by Caro Peacock have seemingly undergone a rather confusing repackaging for the US market, retitled as 'A Foreign/Dangerous/Family Affair' instead of 'Death at Dawn/Death of a Dancer/A Corpse in Shining Armour', and faced with different cover designs. The positive reviews that prompted me into borrowing the first in the series from the library, to test the water, were obviously written by American readers, so some confusion ensued when looking up the books for myself! I'm not complaining - both versions fit into the generic branding of 'historical fiction', only the US covers suggest a later era than the UK illustration - and the publishers probably know what they are doing, but it does seem rather like overkill show more in this case.

Moving onto the book itself, Caro Peacock's heroine and her first adventure would also seem to suggest an American author, or at the very least, a story written for the American market. Liberty Lane, who sounds like either Superman's girlfriend or a porn star, is a young lady raised by an unconventional father of a republican persuasion (Liberty's brother, only mentioned in this instalment, is called Thomas Fraternity - and as Liberty quips, had her mother lived long enough, there would probably have been an Equality to add to the family also!) Not only does she echo her father's belief in the French and American constitutions and resent the unfair balance of power in her own country, but Liberty has been educated beyond the means and requirements of her class and gender - she can speak French, Spanish and Latin, read music and play the piano, guitar and flute, can ride like a champion and enjoys the opera! All are standard talents for the independent lady detective, empowering at the same time as allowing access to the upper classes, and Liberty is no exception. She is aware of social conventions, and her role in them as a woman forced to support herself, but her upbringing allows her some freedom to buck tradition and the laws of etiquette - walking without a chaperone, talking to strange men alone, addressing those 'above her station', and of course, dressing and behaving like a young lad instead of a young lady.

The narrative and dialogue also tend to make Liberty's proto-Victorian adventures accessible to a modern audience (the story is set in 1837, somewhere between the death of King William IV and the accession of Queen Victoria to the throne). Although the author has done her research - and there is a list of further non-fiction reading in the back of the book to prove it - the conversations are for the most part quite informal and only lightly flavoured with historical form and address. My only sticking point is that the Queen is referred to as 'Little Vicky', when she would have been known as 'Little Drina' if anything (her full name was Alexandrina Victoria), but that's only minor artistic licence in a book where Disraeli becomes an important secondary character! Read as an enjoyable historical mystery and not a faithful reproduction of pre-Victorian society, then the story is both informative and entertaining.

I quite liked Liberty, despite her unusual name and modern thinking, and found myself thoroughly captivated by the conspiracy she stumbled upon after her father's death. The Mandeville family, particularly Celia and the children, were vividly drawn, and the villains lacked only dark mustachioes to twirl - the double-play amongst the family was also well-handled and quite surprising (I never try to get ahead of the plot, so I'm easily shocked!)

A quick, light read, which I shall hope to replicate soon, with the other (double) titles in the series! show less

At the time of King William's death, when Queen Victoria is about to become Queen of England, a young lady named Liberty Lane has her life torn apart, when she hears news of her father's death.

Liberty was told that her father had died in a duel, while in France. But although her father was unconventional, romantic man, she knows that there was no way he would have taken part in a duel. She decides to find out the truth about his death, and her endeavours take her across the channel to France, and back again. What Liberty discovers reveals corruption and deception at the highest levels of society...

I loved this book, as a terrific piece of escapism. Liberty is a spirited and heroine, who is extremely likeable, perhaps due to her obvious show more vulnerability. The story itself moves along quickly, with plenty of tension and atmosphere, and I really felt drawn into Liberty's world.

There are heroes and villains, and even a young Benjamin Disraeli pops up! I knew I would enjoy the book after reading just the first page, and with plenty of twists and turns, I was kept guessing until the end, which was just as satisfying as the rest of the book.

A terrific read, which I would definitely recommend. show less

A Foreign Affair is the first in a series about the adventures of the resourceful Liberty Lane. It's 1837, and Queen Victoria has just ascended the throne of England. However, Liberty isn't concerned about the coronation of the Queen; she's much more interested in how her father died, apparently in a duel, while in France. Her investigation leads her to a dangerous plot that may jeopardize the English crown and possible England itself.

I thought this was a pretty lively, exciting, and fast-paced novel. Although the characters seemed to be a little too modern at times, I enjoyed this book and the sort-of gothic Mandeville Hall. It had just the right combination of murder, mystery, and treason, with a little bit of romance mixed in. Caro show more Peacock used to work as a guide at Croft Castle in Hereford, the family home of Sir Richard Croft, the medical expert who was present at the birth of Princess Charlotte's son in 1817. From that story sprung the idea for A Foreign Affair. Reading this novel, you can tell that Peacock has assiduously done her research. Aside from the dialogue, the period details ring true.

A Foreign Affair is the first in a promising series; the next is A Dangerous Affair, coming out in January. I look forward to reading it. show less

After reading A Dangerous Affair by Caro Peacock for the HarperCollins First Look Program and the adventures of Liberty Lane, I decided to pick up the first in the series to see how Liberty's exploits began. Check out my review of A Dangerous Affair here. A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock is set in England and France prior to the ascension of Queen Victoria to the throne of England. Liberty Lane is staying with family when she receives word from her father that he will be returning home from Paris shortly. Rather than wait for him to return, she runs off to Dover to meet him, but she soon learns of his death.

Liberty's impetuous nature leads her into dark alleys, a morgue, carriages with duplicitous men, and a household full of secrets as show more she attempts to uncover the truth behind her father's death. She refuses to accept the news that he died in a dual, and she is enlisted by men of influence to spy on the Mandeville household while feigning to be a governess.

Caro Peacock has a way with description. Readers will be thrust into cramped spaces with large, round scary men, like in the passage below:

"The man who called himself Harry Trumper had arranged things so that he and I were sitting side by side with our backs to the horses, the other man facing us with a whole seat to himself. As my sight cleared, I could see that he needed it. It was not so much that he was corpulent--though indeed he was that--more that his unweildy body spread out like a great toad's, with not enough in the way of bone or sinew to control his bulk" (Page 39)

Readers will enjoy how Liberty's relationship in this novel develops into more of a friendship in the second novel, rather than the fatherly relationship we see in A Foreign Affair. Liberty is a Victorian Age Nancy Drew, led by her impetuous and curious nature to solve mysteries. Peacock's use of language unfolds the intricate relationships between the characters and the mysteries in this novel. show less

Liberty Lane was convinced that her father did not die by duel. He had always adamantly maintained that the practice of dueling was barbaric and not something that he would ever have participated in. Unable to learn the truth by open means, Liberty is forced to take an undercover role as a governess to a very prestigious family of the ton and try to pierce the curtain of secrecy around her father's death.
Liberty Lane is a delightful heroine with brains and courage. She embodies all the attributes of the modern sleuth: daring, brave, intelligent, resourceful and connected. Liberty's friends assist her and help to save her when her actions embroil her in an attempt to replace the young Victoria with an usurper.
I thoroughly enjoyed this show more book. I found the characters delightful and the descriptions of the background settings and the political climate, that existed in Victorian England, to be true to the time period and quite interesting.
I did find that Liberty, the character, seemed to be too modern in thinking and actions. A young woman of the period would have seemed more compliant to the wishes of her elders but she made for an intriguing read. show less

Light, fun, quite readable murder mystery?? thriller?? set at the very beginning of Queen Victoria's reign. I liked the heroine and many of the other characters a lot, they were people I enjoyed spending time with, even the nasty ones were fun to read about. I think characterization may be this author's strength.

The mystery didn't really work except as an excuse for Liberty Lane to have adventures. She didn't so much discover solutions as stumble onto them, or have them explained by other characters. But I enjoyed the adventures and the places she went in pursuit of them.

I also had some difficulty reading this as really belonging to the beginning of Victoria's reign. For a number of small reasons - clothes, attitudes, decor, slang it show more really felt a lot more late Edwardian than early Victorian.

So I can't recommend it without some qualifications, but I did enjoy it and will keep an eye out for others by the same author. show less