Genevieve Sturbridge thought she’d left danger behind in London. Now she lives a quiet life in the countryside with her husband and son. But an invitation to dine at Sir Horace Walpole’s eerie Gothic estate pulls her back into a deadly world of deception, espionage and murder.
At the mysterious dinner party, Genevieve uncovers a shocking secret — a rare pigment of pure blue is being produced again. Coveted by royalty, chemists and spies, its formula is priceless . . . and lethal.
Some will kill to possess it. Others will kill to keep it buried.
Only Genevieve can recognise the formula and stop it falling into the wrong hands. But when a ghost from her past resurfaces, Genevieve must determine who she can trust. Years ago, this secret nearly cost her and her husband their lives. Now, someone is willing to kill for it once more.
Genevieve must discover the truth before time runs out, because this time the price of failure will cost more than just her own life.
Dear Ms. Bilyeau,
Several years ago I read the first book in this series, “The Blue,” and enjoyed it very much. I tried the next book but just couldn’t get into it. Then I saw that there would be a third book, and that another reviewer thought it could be read on its own, and decided to give it a try.
There are enough little bits of backstory for the first book that I think readers could start here but I wouldn’t actually advise it. Several characters and their actions in that book are important in this one. Plus there’s enough spy plot to try and make sense of in this book without the addition of trying to figure that one out, too.
There are many things I like about this book. Seven years into their marriage, Genevieve and Thomas seem to be having problems. I’m not actually happy about that but the seven year mark does seem to be a period where marriages undergo strain so seeing it here is realistic. These two have enough reasons for this. Genevieve is an artist who has never been allowed chances to learn or creative freedom and now spends time away from her beloved London teaching water coloring to bored young women. Thomas is off for weeks with his cronies and buddies doing something he tells Genevieve nothing about. Their letters have grown stiff and awkward so Genevieve isn’t exactly sorry when she gets whisked away to see a long time friend.
Long time friend’s husband is another matter though and it’s clear that Something Is Up. Soon Genevieve is caught up in something that seems rather silly for a long time. But eventually events from the first book rear their heads and if not solved, the chance that France and England could enter another war – which would be financially devastating to them both after the Seven Years/French and Indian War – is a distinct possibility. All for a beautiful blue dye.
It becomes clear later on but I’ll go ahead and spill that it’s best to think of what drives this plot as an 18th century Cold War between England and France. A treaty has ended their most recent conflict but left them both in precarious financial straits. What almost came between them earlier, and was actually entered into a treaty, is what is at stake again. Rich people will pay a fortune for This and if one side breaks the treaty and uses This it will bring in a king’s ransom but also might provoke a war neither side wants. So who is behind this and can Genevieve and another person get proof?
Genevieve is smart – well most of the time – but there are so many times when she almost got on my last nerve. She’s like a prickly cat ready to swipe out with her claws before her fur is even ruffled. I get that she has fought against a system that has excluded her and belittled her but her (artistic?/French Huguenot?) temper flares to white hot if someone even looks at her funny. She is touted as such a great spy and operative but manages to bungle things a bit as well as poo-pooing training that the other operative gives her. So this information can be conveyed to the reader, I guess that she is also made to come off as a bit naive about the depths of depravity of the French aristocracy. I will give her props for a few gutsy moves she makes that get her out of danger and which do manage to save the day. She and the other person clash a lot but both grow as characters by the end. But yeah I still wanted to shake her.
The way the book ends, I expect that there will be another one in this series as there are lots of important loose threads. I’ll be interested to see what happens and am glad that I pushed through the spots where things annoyed me here. Genevieve is a strong woman and the underlying driver of the plot is one of the more unique ones I’ve come across. B-
~Jayne
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Jayne
Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there’s no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.
