In 1810, Atlas Catesby, a brilliant adventurer and youngest son of a baron, is anxious to resume his world travels after a carriage accident left him injured in London. But his plans are derailed when, passing through a country village, he discovers a helpless woman being auctioned off to the highest bidder--by her husband.
In order to save her from being violated by another potential buyer, Atlas purchases the lady, Lilliana, on the spot to set her free. But Lilliana, desperate to be with her young sons and knowing the laws of England give a father all parental rights, refuses to be rescued--until weeks later when her husband is murdered and Atlas is the only one who can help clear her name of the crime.
Fortunately, Atlas is a master at solving complicated puzzles, both with games and the intricacies of human motivation, and finds himself uniquely suited to the task, despite the personal peril it may put him in. But soon Altas learns the dead man had many secrets--and more than a few enemies willing to kill to keep them quiet--
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My Review: (Thanks to NetGalley)
The first 2/3rds of this book was, in a word, boring. I really struggled to stay interested. There was no character connection between Atlas and Lilliana, no connection between any character and the reader and the murder victim was so unpleasant I really didn't care who killed him or why.
The last third was a lot more meaty in terms of story. There was another attempted murder, and we discover a secret about the Duke (which made him 100% more interesting than the rest of the characters, there should be a book about him, lol). A lot of red herrings, and the 'clues' we were given didn't really make sense in the grand scheme of things.
I prefer mystery books where I'm given enough insight/clues to feel involved and to develop theories of my own, this book just didn't offer that kind of interaction.
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