The Debutante's Code (#01 in Thorndyke & Swann Regency Mystery Series)

This is my second time through this series as the third novel has just been released and I wanted to refresh myself with the previous two novels. This series, the Thorndyke & Swan Regency Mystery seies is a follow on from the Serendipity & Secrets series where we meet Marcus, the Duke of Haverly, a spy for the British.

In this Regency Historical novel, we are introduced to the Bow Street Runners, the forefront to the constabulary movement in England. Daniel Swann has a chequered past that is full of mysteries. He has an art degree but is fascinated with solving crimes but his boss won't take him seriously as a secret patron has been supporting him financially and opening doors for him. Multiple art thefts and a murder has got him baffled and his boss is on his back to get it solved, but he seems to be thwarted in finding those responsible for them. Then there is Juliet's, a debutante who he seems to be constantly bumping into along with her intoxicated uncle entering her first season with all the invites that come with it. Poor Juliet's was sent away to boarding school in Switzerland seven years earlier and kept there safe when the war with Bonaparte started. Now she is back for her debut, but her parents have gone on an errand to their country estate. She finds her family have, for generations, served their country as spies and she has to choose weather she can use lies and deceit to join them and would God listen to her prayers if she is living a life that is deceitful in…

I assumed this was a romance as that's what Erica usually writes, but this is really a mystery novel with a hint of romance to come. I missed that when I purchased the book. I was also floored by the 48 pages first chapter. To be honest, I got a little bored through the first half of chapter one, but things picked up by her debut ball (page 20ish?). I was hooked not long after. This book has epic long chapters (except for the last chapter). Once I wrapped my head around the style, I did enjoy it. If you come into this thinking it will be like her romances, it is and yet it's not. I could see the Erica I knew from her Western and Regency books here and there, but it's also something new from her. There were fast paced moments, but also some slower building of the characters in an old timey mystery series style. I'd recommend that the reader come into this book ready for a mystery style blast from the past, take the time to know the characters, and don't be in a hurry for the mystery to end. Yes, the 'main' mystery of this book concludes at the end, but the main characters aren't together, and there are several other plot twists unresolved. This book is the start of an investment into a 3 book series not a standalone. While I might have struggled in chapter one, I really want to know when book 2 is coming out. If you've read The Gentleman Spy, Marcus, Charlotte, and even Marcus' mother are in this one. Although, you don't need to have read The Gentleman Spy to enjoy this book.