Treading the Boards

So, Jen Turano is completing another series with some pretty interesting characters and lots of humor.

Abigail Hart has taken in three girls who were living in a tenement apartment in New York City, and as is her wont, she has matched Millie and Harriet, leaving only Lucetta to marry off. And Abigail has the perfect match for Lucetta--her grandson, Bram Haverstein.

When Lucetta's step-father shows up after one of her performances on the stage wanting the deed to Lucetta's plantation in Virginia, or in lieu of the plantation, he wanted her to give herself to Silas Ruff as a means of settling a gambling debt. When Silas shows up at the theater to collect on his debt, Lucetta's bodyguard spirits her away to Abigail's and Abigail spirits her away to Ravenwood, which is Bram's house. As much as Abigail wants Bram to fall for Lucetta and vice versa, both are harboring secrets they do not feel comfortable sharing. Though Lucetta's secrets have to do with how her mother treated her when she was growing up, Bram's secret is harder to divulge--he is the popular author Mr. Grimstone, and he does his writing in a dungeon in his castle.

Bram has a strange group of employees in his castle--ex cons, former homeless, and tenement dwellers whom he is trying to raise up into more acceptable circumstances. The only ones he didn't hire himself are the housekeeper and the butler, ones he inherited with the purchase of the castle.

There is no rest for the wicked or the weary in this book as the plot speeds along at the speed of a race car in the Indianapolis 500. The characters have to solve mystery after mystery despite all the obstacles thrown into their paths--obstables like Geoffrey the goat who doesn't like women, a kidnapping, the dogs, a horse that is light sensitive, confronting meddling or distant parents, and random cannon fire.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a random cannon shot

My Thanks to Bethany House for allowing me to read and review this book