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An upper-class Regency lady with a finely honed sense of social
responsibility must solve a murder or find herself accused.
Miss Emmeline St. Germaine lives in London at the pleasure of
her brother, who keeps his town house open to her as long as she behaves.
Little does he know that his sister, secretly known as the Avengeress, works
with a like-minded group of friends to rescue children who are being sexually
exploited by their employers and, under the sobriquet of the Rogue, writes a
scandalous gossip column for radical newspaper The Prattler. Emmeline’s latest escapade involves the rescue of a
very young maid just as she’s about to be raped by her employer, Sir Henry
Claybourne. Unfortunately, after Emmeline escapes with the child, Sir Henry is
murdered, the family silver stolen, and the unknown Avengeress blamed by the
press. Emmeline, keenly aware of the danger she faces in such a male-dominated
culture, reluctantly decides that only solving the murder can protect her
identity. With the help of her maid, her coachman, her friends, and the owner
of The Prattler, she digs into Sir
Henry’s background and learns more about how the unfortunate children are
delivered into the hands of their rapists. Nor can she relax among the social
circle of her uncle, wealthy jurist Sir Jacob Pauling, for it includes Dr.
Giles Woodforde, who’s known Emmeline since childhood and is in love with her
even though she doesn’t acknowledge his devotion or trust him with her dark
secrets. Nevertheless, his medical knowledge proves helpful as she scours
pitiful orphanages and elite drawing rooms in her search for the truth. Her
shocking discoveries will change her life forever.
Hamilton, who writes everything from kitchen cozies (No
Grater Danger, 2018, etc.) to Regency romances, combines aspects of both in
a much grittier new series that explores the second-class status of women,
which continues to this day.
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