by Alissa Johnson
Series: The Thief-takers #1
Genres: Historical Romance, Mystery
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
Heat Level:
The Lady is a Thief
Years ago, Owen Renderwell earned acclaim—and a title—for the dashing rescue of a kidnapped duchess. But only a select few knew that Scotland Yard’s most famous detective was working alongside London’s most infamous thief…and his criminally brilliant daughter, Charlotte Walker.Lottie was like no other woman in Victorian England. She challenged him. She dazzled him. She questioned everything he believed and everything he was, and he has never wanted anyone more. And then he lost her. Now a private detective on the trail of a murderer, Owen has stormed back into Lottie’s life. She knows that no matter what they may pretend, he will always be a man of the law and she a criminal. Yet whenever he’s near, Owen has a way of making things complicated…and long for a future that can never be theirs.
A Talent for Trickery by Alissa Johnson is the first book in her historical romantic suspense series The Thief-Takers. I was excited to read this tale and I am happy to report it delivered. A Talent for Trickery was suspenseful and filled with delicious banter, danger and a murder mystery thriller that kept me reading late into the night.
Five reasons to grab A Talent for Trickery
- The backstory: Owen Renderwell helped rescue a kidnapped duchess with the aid of a thief and his brilliant daughter Charlotte Walker. The thief ended up dead and Charlotte along with her siblings ended up in the countryside under assumed names. Owen got all the glory and a title to boot. Owen was smitten with Charlotte and reached out over the years, but she refused to see him and returned his letters unopened.
- The situation: Someone is murdering folks in London and leaving cryptic messages. Viscount Renderwell, now working as a private detective seeks help from the Walkers, Charlotte in particular. The setup for both the romance and the suspense was brilliant, engaging me as the reader from the start.
- The characters: Charlotte (Lottie), having grown up with a thief for a father has developed into a strong, somewhat outspoken lady. I loved her remarks and the banter that ensued upon Owen’s arrival. Owen, the poor smitten sod, Charlotte both fascinates and confounds him. He is hoping this case allows them to connect again,. It won’t be easy as she is very angry with him. Owen is use to being the leader and quickly takes charge. Charlotte on the other hand will never accept second in command making things interesting. Their chemistry was sizzling and they were equally matched.
- Secondary characters: All were well-developed and added to the story. Ester, Lottie’s younger sister is a tad scary but I adored her and look forward to her story. Their younger brother Peter at fifteen considers himself the man of the house and is not aware of the truth behind his father or his sister’s past. Gabriel and Samuel are private detectives who work with Owen and I am curious to learn more. It is clear the three men trust each other and we see hints of another budding romance.
- The murder mystery: Johnson created a captivating set up with the murders in London, and brought it all to the countryside estate. She weaved the past into the present mystery with twists and turns that kept everyone guessing. Our characters faced danger keeping the suspense high even as we allowed time for this second chance romance to develop.
A Talent for Trickery was a delightful story from the mystery to the second chance romance. Johnson allowed me to slip into the story and care for the characters. She wrapped this case up, and gave readers a satisfying romance. I am quite anxious for the next tale and hope it involves Esther.
Read Chapter 1
1872
Owen Renderwell, the first Viscount Renderwell, marched up the front steps of Willowbend House with the determined stride of a man who was less enthusiastic about reaching his destination than he was reliant upon the power of momentum to see him there.
He stopped short of reaching for the knocker.
Behind him, Sir Samuel Brass shifted his mountainous frame and scratched thoughtfully at his full beard. “Reconsidering, are you?”
“No.”
Brushing at the sleeves of his fashionable coat, Sir Gabriel Arkwright’s equally fashionable face lit with a mocking grin. “I believe our fearless leader is now contemplating the fact that this is our last chance to turn back.”
“It’s too late to turn back,” Samuel pointed out. “We’re already here.”
“We are not turning back.”
“One can turn back after arrival,” Gabriel countered. “It’s called retreat.”
“We are not turning back.”
Owen didn’t want to turn back. That was, perhaps, the most disconcerting aspect of his current predicament. A good part of him wanted to be here, in Norfolk, on the steps of this very country house. That part of him had, in fact, wanted to make the trip years ago and was as eager to knock on the door as the rest of him was reluctant.
It was an uncomfortable thing to simultaneously wish to press forward and step back, and Owen recognized his incongruent feelings as the same he’d experienced at age nine, when his sister Eliza had convinced him it would be great fun to hurl a stone at a wasp’s nest. It was the delicious thrill that came from succumbing to the allure of a very bad idea.
Resolute, he grasped the knocker and brought it down for three quick raps. Then he stood back and waited to regret his decision.
A silver-haired woman with light eyes clouded by age opened the door. She looked between them with open suspicion. “Yes?”
“Lord Renderwell to see—”
“Oh.” Instantly, her demeanor changed. She stepped back, allowing them entrance, and waved a maid forward to take their hats and coats. “Welcome, my lord. Welcome to Willowbend. You honor us.”
It still amazed him how efficiently his title removed obstacles from his path. It had been a revelation when he’d inherited the barony at sixteen and had only become more pronounced since he’d received the viscountcy.
As a child, he’d known few advantages of being the son of a baron. His family of nine had resided in what was laughably referred to as genteel poverty, which was, as far as he’d been able to tell, really no different than your common variety poverty. One could not fill
an empty belly with an obscure title.
But a smart man could use it to open doors like this one.
The housekeeper showed them into a small but well-appointed parlor, and for a few disorienting seconds, it seemed to Owen as if he had stepped into the past. He’d never been in this house, never seen it. But he knew this room. How many times had he walked across that counterfeit Axminster carpet, or lit one of the brass lamps, or smirked at the large, imposing oil portrait of William Walker hanging over the fireplace? How many times had he sat on the pale blue sofa or in one of the matching wing chairs?
“Someone has taken up sketching,” Gabriel announced.
Owen turned to see him pick up a sketchbook from a monstrously oversized escritoire (featuring a large number of carved animal heads) that was shoved awkwardly into a far corner.
“Quite good, really,” Gabriel said, and he held up a skilled rendering of a rearing horse.
And just like that, the illusion was broken. Owen couldn’t say with any degree of certainty if one of the younger Walker children had been artistically inclined eight years ago. But he knew with absolute certainty that he had never seen that hideous desk.
“Miss Esther Bales is quite accomplished,” the housekeeper said with pride. “Fond of horses, that one. Doesn’t miss a single detail.” Then she took a second look at the sketch and paled. Because it wasn’t just a horse. It was a stallion. In all his intact glory. And Esther had, indeed, not missed a single detail.
With a speed that was nothing short of miraculous, she darted across the room and nipped the sketch out of Gabriel’s hands. “That is… I do believe this is Mr. Bales’s effort. I’ll just…I’ll see he finds it, shall I? And fetch Miss Bales. I shall fetch Miss Bales directly.” She headed for the door, paused, and turned round again, this time with a small blush. “It is Miss Bales you wish to see, is it not? Miss Charlotte Bales?”
“It is,” Owen confirmed. “Thank you, Mrs…”
“Oh. Lewis, my lord. I do beg your pardon. Mrs. Lewis.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Lewis.”
Owen waited for the housekeeper to curtsy and hurry out of the room. “Is distressing elderly women a new vice of yours?” he asked Gabriel. “Or one I’ve merely overlooked?”
Gabriel lacked the shame to hide his smile. “It wasn’t intentional. I didn’t notice the details; I was taken with the picture as a whole.” He walked past the settee to inspect a door to an adjoining parlor.
“Charlotte won’t agree to see us, you know. We’ll have to fetch her out.”
“Perhaps.” Owen hoped not. He couldn’t imagine this going well, exactly, but with any luck, it wouldn’t go so badly as to require brute force.
“She refused to see you the last time,” Samuel reminded him.
“That was a long time ago.”
“Think she’s changed?” There was an unmistakable wisp of hopefulness in Gabriel’s voice. He headed to the row of windows along the front wall and closed the two left cracked open.
“Do you suppose any of the Walkers have changed?”
“It’s Bales now, and I don’t know.”
“Peter will have,” Samuel pointed out, unnecessarily. Peter had been no more than six when last they’d seen him.
Gabriel shook his head. “I still say he’s the one we should be asking—”
“No.” They’d agreed to keep the youngest Bales-formerly-Walker removed from the situation until they knew how informed the boy was of his family’s past. Or rather, Owen had ordered his men to keep their mouths shut around the lad, and his men would obey.
“Please see we are not disturbed, Mrs. Lewis,” a familiar voice sounded from the foyer.
Owen barely had time to register the pleasant tingle up the back of his neck before the parlor door opened and Charlotte strode into the room, exactly as she had the first time they’d met—with the grace, confidence, and bold defiance of a monarch whose claim to the throne came by virtue of having personally pried its original occupant off with a sword.
If pirates had a queen, he mused, she would enter a room like Miss Charlotte Walker-Bales.
Owen resisted the urge to shift his weight. Seeing her again felt like an unexpected shove. The sort one had a masculine obligation to pretend not to notice.
No easy task, that. Not when everything about her was just as he remembered—keen dark eyes in a heart-shaped face, thick black hair done up in a loose topknot.
She’d adopted the current fashion of narrow skirts and bustle, he noted, but he saw none of the flounces and frippery that were all the rage in London. No ruffled underskirts for Charlotte. No fringe or bows or buckles, nor dizzying, contrasting patterns that made a man’s eyes cross. Just a simple gray gown with a small train and a single red ribbon woven through the top edge of a square-cut bodice. Elegant, severe, and alluring, all at once.
And there was that stubborn jaw and the mouth that turned up ever so slightly at the corners, lending the impression of a woman in possession of a wicked secret. Quite possibly your wicked secret.
There had been a time when he’d been captivated by that secretive mouth and spent more hours than he cared to admit looking for ways to turn that promise of a smile into the sparkling laugh he knew was hiding just beneath the surface. He couldn’t imagine trying, let
alone succeeding, in such an endeavor today. And so he kept his own voice polite but detached as he greeted her.
“Miss Bales.”
The three men bowed in unison. In return she said, “Well,” and looked at each of them separately. “You’re still alive, I see.”
“And you’re still angry,” he replied.
“How very observant of you. Eight years and not a thing has changed,” she drawled. “I vow, I feel a young woman of two-and-twenty again.”
Things had changed. Drastically, in his mind. They’d been friends once. But her father’s death had shattered her world, and for that, it seemed she would never forgive him.
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Candace
This sounds great! I love historical mysteries!
kimbacaffeinate
Oh yes you would totally love this one Candace..right up your alley 🙂
Lorna
She was a thief or she is still a thief? I am not big on the heroine being bad in that way, but it still sounds intriguing to me. Glad it was such a good read for you 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
Nope, her father was a thief and she was his child and he trained her. She is good..no worries.
Tyler H Jolley
This sounds really interesting. I have also really been loving all the excerpts you’ve been including. Much appreciated, Kimba!
kimbacaffeinate
Glad you are enjoying them Tyler.
MarthaE
I am glad you enjoyed this and recommend the author. I have two older titles by this author that I need to read. Maybe I will put one on my list for my TBR challenge next year!
kimbacaffeinate
This was my first Martha I hope you enjoy them
Lark
Ooh, this looks right up my alley and heaps of fun! I am adding it to my TBR list and checking to see if my library is getting a copy.
Lark
🙂 The library has it on order, so I’ve placed a hold!
lisa thomson
Hi Kim, great review and this I’m adding to my TBR on GoodReads. What’s not to love? Historical setting and a little romance and mystery—a perfect combo.
kimbacaffeinate
Exactly Lisa…enjoy!
Anissa
Wow, this sounds totally awesome! I’m going to have to check it out!
kimbacaffeinate
Thanks Anissa 🙂 have a lovely weekend.
Lily B
I have recently been falling in love with historical murder mystery type books and this one looks of so fun!
kimbacaffeinate
I enjoy them too Lily. I am looking forward to the next book.
MyBookJacket
This sounds just like the kind of books I read. Murders and detectives and London!!!! Thanks for the recommendation!
kimbacaffeinate
Anytime, enjoy your weekend!
Angela Adams
“A Talent for Trickery was suspenseful and filled with delicious banter, danger and a murder mystery thriller that kept me reading late into the night.” — a fine testimonial. Thanks for the post!
kimbacaffeinate
Thanks Angela 🙂 happy weekend!
Melissa (Books and Things)
Oh I’ve been in the mood for a mystery and I just started one. I think this one would go perfect for a mystery reading date. 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
Yes..it totally would Melissa. Have a wonderful weekend!
Cyn
Ooh, this sounds awesome! I’ve read a few Alissa Johnson and enjoyed them, will definitely have to check this guy out! I love that this is about a lady thief! Great review, Kim!
kimbacaffeinate
This was my first book by her, and will be reading more Cyn 🙂 glad to hear you like her.
Mary Kirkland
Love it when there’s a great setup for the story. That cover is fun, she looks really mischievous.
kimbacaffeinate
It was a fun read and great mystery Mary 🙂 thank you.
melliane
I’m so glad you had such a great time with itbecause once again I’m late but I’m so curious to start it! really soon!!!
kimbacaffeinate
I am excited to hear you will be reading it Melliane and look forward to your thoughts.
Stormi
I knew this one would be good and I so should have grabbed it on netgalley (think that is where I seen it) but I am trying to be good…lol (Yeah, right I was so bad this week.) 🙂 So it’s going on my wishlist. 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
It is so hard being good. LOL
Heidi
This sounds like a tightly woven plot, and I think I would enjoy the mystery.
kimbacaffeinate
Yes Heidi, i can see you enjoying this one!
Red Iza
It looks like a lot of fun ! I see a lot of historicals these days that are mixed with either mystery or paranormal, good combination 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
I love the blended romances 🙂
Ramona
Sounds clever and well plotted. It calls out to me 🙂 Glad that secondary characters are not the stick figures we get sometimes as “fillings” and “extras”… Great review, Kimba 🙂 Happy Friday.
kimbacaffeinate
I agree, now I am anxiously awaiting Esther’s story 🙂
kindlemom1
This kind of sounds a lot like one of my favorite series in this genre Kim so I’m definitely giving this a try!
kimbacaffeinate
What series? Am I reading it? Spill Ali….
Bea
I eyed this when it was up for review and was tempted. I’m not big on historical romance but when there’s a mystery too….I’m even more tempted now after reading your review.
kimbacaffeinate
It was well balanced too Bea. I am patiently waiting for my package from Orbit..I saw you got yours and have been drooling ever since!
Bookworm Brandee
After reading your review and that excerpt, I’m wishing I could start this one TODAY! Alas, I cannot. *sigh* But this one is going higher in the queue, Kimberly. I love the sound of it – it has my favorite kind of heroine ;), and *all* the characters are well-developed. Plus is an historical romantic suspense?!? I don’t read many of those. Thanks for putting yet another historical on my radar. 😀
kimbacaffeinate
Glad to hear you bumped it up and will be reading it Brandee..I look forward to your thoughts.
Kristin
OMG – this sounds absolutely fantastic!! I love how Owen sounds, like he’s totally smitten and totally heads down grovelling to get back into Lottie’s good graces.
How’d you know it would be so good? You sure can pick winners 😀
kimbacaffeinate
It spoke to me, books often talk to me when I look at them on Netgalley.
Lexxie
Criminally brilliant daughter? Does this mean she’s just exceedingly brilliant, or brilliant when it comes to crimes? I totes want to find out!! You’re making me add historical romances to my shelf every day, it seems, Kim. Great review!
kimbacaffeinate
Might be a little of both…guess you will need to read it. hehe
Debbie Haupt
Great review Kim, wow the author lives in the Ozarks and writes about The Ton, pretty cool
kimbacaffeinate
That is cool, I love knowing a little about the author
Christy LoveOfBooks
I think I’ll enjoy Charlotte and Owen’s dynamic a lot! I love heroines like her.
kimbacaffeinate
So do I witty, strong, and intelligent
Liina
This books sounds great 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
I hope you decide to try it Liina 🙂
blodeuedd
This sounds pretty fun 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
It was Linda, I think you’d enjoy this 🙂
Lover Of Romance
aww….lovely review. I love second chance romances. They are so wonderful to read. I have heard many good things about this one, can’t wait to read it now.
kimbacaffeinate
I was pleased, and these characters were fun. I love when the case is equally strong
The Bibliophile Babe
Love the title!
kimbacaffeinate
It is quite catchy. This was fun, and i am quite anxious to read the next one