Though I was correct in my guess that the final book in this trilogy would involve the relationship between Lord Richard Vane and his valet/spymaster David Cyprian, I wish this series had ended with more of a bang. 

The political intrigues in the first two books extended far beyond the arenas of gentlemen’s clubs, so to have the final threat to the Ricardians in this book be a stolen letter was a bit of a let-down. The relationships between all of the characters was still a delight to read, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing more of the “below stairs” characters through Cyprian and Silas’s friendship. But Richard didn’t catch my attention enough as a character in the previous books to want to read so much about him, even though I thoroughly understand why the author plotted things as she did.

I hope Charles returns to these characters at some point, because there’s so much more story there to mine. (Especially Will Quex + Jon Shakespeare, please!)

Rating: 4 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.