Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes in this new Regency mystery series
Newly returned from finishing school, Lady Juliette Thorndike is ready to debut in London society. Due to her years away, she hasn't spent much time with her parents, and sees them only as the flighty, dilettante couple the other nobles love. But when they disappear, she discovers she never really knew them at all. They've been living double lives as government spies--and they're only the latest in a long history of espionage that is the family's legacy.
Now Lady Juliette is determined to continue their work. Mentored by her uncle, she plunges into the dangerous world of spies. From the glittering ballrooms of London to the fox hunts, regattas, and soirees of country high society, she must chase down hidden clues, solve the mysterious code her parents left behind, and stay out of danger. All the while, she has to keep her endeavors a secret from her best friend and her suitors--not to mention the nosy, irritatingly handsome Bow Street runner, who suspects her of a daring theft.
Can Lady Juliette outwit her enemies and complete her parents' last mission?
Best-selling author Erica Vetsch is back with a rollicking, exciting new series destined to be a hit with Regency readers who enjoy a touch of mystery in their love stories. Fans of Julie Klassen, Sarah Ladd, and Anne Perry will love the wit, action, and romance.
Now Lady Juliette is determined to continue their work. Mentored by her uncle, she plunges into the dangerous world of spies. From the glittering ballrooms of London to the fox hunts, regattas, and soirees of country high society, she must chase down hidden clues, solve the mysterious code her parents left behind, and stay out of danger. All the while, she has to keep her endeavors a secret from her best friend and her suitors--not to mention the nosy, irritatingly handsome Bow Street runner, who suspects her of a daring theft.
Can Lady Juliette outwit her enemies and complete her parents' last mission?
Best-selling author Erica Vetsch is back with a rollicking, exciting new series destined to be a hit with Regency readers who enjoy a touch of mystery in their love stories. Fans of Julie Klassen, Sarah Ladd, and Anne Perry will love the wit, action, and romance.
My Review
Her mission just complicated his case...
I have been looking forward to The Debutante's Code for months now. I was totally intrigued by the title and after enjoying Erica Vetsch's previous Regency Era series so much I was more than ready to dive into her new Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries.
What a story! It wasn't precisely what I expected and yet it was exactly what I anticipated. There were so many more threads, surprises, and even some familiar faces made an appearance or two. In keeping with the title The Debutante's Code had a bit of a younger vibe, not YA by any means, but still a touch of coming-of-age for both of its main characters.
Erica Vetsch has a real knack for blending Regency Era historical romance with all of its polite manners, graceful dances, and elegant dress with mystery and intrigue that almost comes across as romantic suspense. Those talents are on full display in this first Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery.
I definitely enjoyed The Debutante's Code with all of its charming twists and turns. It was a great start to Erica Vetsch's new Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries series and I absolutely cannot wait to find out what happens Juliette and Daniel, as well as if some of my suspicions about the past are correct....
Tell Tale Book Reviews gives The Debutante's Code by Erica Vetsch a 4 Bark rating.
I have been looking forward to The Debutante's Code for months now. I was totally intrigued by the title and after enjoying Erica Vetsch's previous Regency Era series so much I was more than ready to dive into her new Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries.
What a story! It wasn't precisely what I expected and yet it was exactly what I anticipated. There were so many more threads, surprises, and even some familiar faces made an appearance or two. In keeping with the title The Debutante's Code had a bit of a younger vibe, not YA by any means, but still a touch of coming-of-age for both of its main characters.
Erica Vetsch has a real knack for blending Regency Era historical romance with all of its polite manners, graceful dances, and elegant dress with mystery and intrigue that almost comes across as romantic suspense. Those talents are on full display in this first Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery.
I definitely enjoyed The Debutante's Code with all of its charming twists and turns. It was a great start to Erica Vetsch's new Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries series and I absolutely cannot wait to find out what happens Juliette and Daniel, as well as if some of my suspicions about the past are correct....
Tell Tale Book Reviews gives The Debutante's Code by Erica Vetsch a 4 Bark rating.
(I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)
An Interview with Erica Vetsch
Q: Introduce us to the new Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery series which has been described as Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes.
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This story has been a long time in the making! It has to be almost ten years ago that I first thought up the story idea, and originally, it was set in Gilded Age New York. But when I began writing stories set in Regency England, I realized the original tale could easily be adapted to the Regency Era.
Our heroine longs to be reunited with her parents and have her debut season in London, but her plans go awry when her parents do not meet her at the docks and are, in fact, missing. She discovers that she comes from a long line of spies for the Crown, and she has a choice, either to finish what her parents started, or turn her back on her heritage and become the socialite she assumed she would be all along. Her mind is made up when murder is afoot. |
Our hero is a Bow Street Runner, one of London’s earliest policemen, and he’s on the hunt for a stolen painting…then other valuables from the same shipment of rare items disappear one by one, and an art dealer is found murdered in his gallery. Each clue leads our hero closer and closer to the thief and killer, but he’s disconcerted to find that his chief suspect has become the debutante he finds so attractive.
Q: Why does Juliette not only feel abandon by her parents, but abandoned by God?
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We often form our views of a Heavenly Father from our experience with our earthly parents, for good or for ill. Juliette has not been ill-treated by her parents, or at least she didn’t think she had, but if they could abandon her on the eve of her coming out in society (in what should be the most important year of her life), can she trust anything about them?
Their priorities clearly don’t line up with hers. They put their work ahead of their daughter. Is that fair? Is that right? They’ve taught her that God is with her, that He will never abandon her, but can she trust what they have taught her when they can lie so easily? |
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Q: What kind of research was required to write a mystery set in the early 1800s? What are some of the methods detectives of the day would have to depend on?
There was quite a bit of research involved in this one, from police procedures to art history. Much studying of maps and the hierarchy of society, the lives of British spies, and fitting it all into the current political and social situations of the times. I had fun deciding upon the various items that would go missing, from statues to jewelry to artwork, and deciding upon different ways each piece could be acquired.
There was quite a bit of research involved in this one, from police procedures to art history. Much studying of maps and the hierarchy of society, the lives of British spies, and fitting it all into the current political and social situations of the times. I had fun deciding upon the various items that would go missing, from statues to jewelry to artwork, and deciding upon different ways each piece could be acquired.
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As to the police methods of the day, the Bow Street detectives didn’t have our current levels of forensic science to help identify culprits. They relied upon eyewitness testimony, circumstantial evidence, catching someone red-handed, and by following the paperwork/money trail. Some things have not changed. The main motives for lawbreaking still fall into three categories: money, power, and sex. Who has it, who wants it, who wants to deny someone else from acquiring it? And in Regency times, the detectives were still looking for motive, means, and opportunity. The more things change, the more they stay the same. |
The Debutante’s Code is my first true mystery, and it’s all wrapped into a heist story, so layering those different threads together was a new adventure for me.
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Q: Can you give us a tease of what to expect in the remainder of the Thorndike & Swann series?
The next book, Millstone of Doubt, begins with a bang! Literally! A grist mill on the Thames explodes, but when the rubble and dust are cleared, a man is found dead, not from the explosion, but from a gunshot! Was the mill blown up to cover the murder? Who would want the mill owner dead? Daniel and Juliette put their heads together to sort out the crime, while Juliette juggles her new career as a spy and a debutante, and Daniel uncovers many of the secrets he needs to piece together the puzzle of his past. |
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Erica Vetsch
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Erica Vetsch is a New York Times best-selling and ACFW Carol Award–winning author. She is a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota with her husband, who she claims is both her total opposite and soul mate.
Vetsch is the author of many novellas and novels, including the popular Serendipity & Secrets Regency series and the new Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery series Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks. |
Learn more about Erica Vetsch and her books at www.ericavetsch.com. She can also be found
on Facebook (@EricaVetschAuthor), Instagram (@EricaVetsch) and Pinterest (Erica Vetsch).
on Facebook (@EricaVetschAuthor), Instagram (@EricaVetsch) and Pinterest (Erica Vetsch).
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