Stealing Time

Barclay Pearce is known as one of the best thieves in London and it is his skills that make him invaluable to the Royal Navy.  He gets his assignments from a man only known as V.  He has taken in a plethora of street urchins (read "orphans") and began to teach them things that are more important than pick-pocketing, general stealing, and living by their wits. 

Evelina Manning has been fighting for women's rights and been involved with the suffrage movement.  It is through her efforts that she met Barclay.  She had little idea how important this meeting was to Barclay.  He needed to meet up with a clock maker and Evelina's father was a clock maker--one of the best in London.

When I first began this novel, it seemed so familiar to me, like I was reading it a second time.  The characters were like meeting old friends again. There was a logical reason for that--this is book three of a series of World War I spy novels by Roseanna M White.  She has the knack for working romance into her spy novels, or maybe it's working the spying into her romance novels.  It's hard to say.

An Hour Unspent also includes the lives of Barclay's "adopted" brothers and sisters, one of which dares him to steal an hour off Big Ben.  It also relates the story of Evelina's mother and her aunt Beatrice, especially Beatrice's overbearing, insulting of Evelina's family. 

This is a five star book with significant historical references -- like when wristwatches came into common use, two thumbs up, and a clock maker to help you steal an hour from Big Ben.

My thanks to Bethany House for allowing me to read and review this book.  The galley I read was provided through NetGalley.com.