India Black and the Widow of Windsor

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Synopsis

When Queen Victoria attends a seance, the spirit of her dear departed husband, Prince Albert insists that she spend the Christmas holiday at their Scottish estate of Balmoral, even though it's a departure from her usual plans this time of year. Believing that the Sons of Arbroath, a Scottish nationalist group, are planning to assassinate the Queen, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli enlists the help of his right hand man, French, and that of resourceful madame India Black, sending them to Scotland to investigate. French searches for possible ne'er-do-wells amongst the aristocratic guests, while India poses as a lady's maid to keep an eye on the servants. Rumor has it that the Sons of Arbroath have a member within their ranks, known only as the Marischal, who is a direct descendant of Scottish royalty, but no one really know who this person might be. When several dramatic accidents occur within days of each other, though, it becomes clear that someone is indeed out to get the Queen, so French and India must step up their game if they're to suss out the suspect's identity in time to save their monarch.

Review

India Black and the Widow of Windsor is the second book in Carol K. Carr's Madame of Espionage series, featuring India Black, the madame of an upscale brothel who has turned from a lady of the evening into a lady of espionage. After attending a seance, Queen Victoria believes that her dear departed Prince Albert has insisted that she spend Christmas at Balmoral. Little does she know that the medium is a convincing charlatan who has been paid off by a shadowy figure, so even though she never goes to Balmoral during the holidays, Victoria packs up her entourage and heads for Scotland to please her dead husband in the afterlife. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli has it on good authority that Scottish nationalists known as the Sons of Arbroath are planning to assassinate the Queen, so he enlists the help of his man, French, to thwart the plan. French in turn convinces India to go along as well. French will keep an eye on the upper crust attendees, while India, posing as a lady's maid to an elderly marchioness, will be on the lookout for anyone suspicious among the servants. They, along with the street urchin, Vincent, for whom French has a soft spot, find several potential suspects. They also discover that the Sons of Arbroath have a purported descendant of Scottish royalty, known only as the Marischal, waiting in the wings to take over the throne, but who exactly the Marischal is, no one really knows. Before they can find their person, multiple accidents occur that appear to be attempts on the Queen's life, leaving India and her companions racing to find answers.

India is the first-person narrator of the story. She continues her double life as a madame (though we see little of her brothel in this one) and a spy. She has an adventurous side that makes her crave something more challenging than managing a brothel, which is what led to her throwing in with French on a case of espionage in the first book. That continues here when French comes to her with the story of assassins wanting to do away with the queen and asks her to go undercover as a lady's maid. While India is far from being a monarchist and couldn't really care less what happens to the Queen, she agrees for the sheer intrigue of it all. India is whip-smart and good at investigating, though in the end, she discovers that she's perhaps not quite as good as she thought she was and could use a bit more polish and training in the art of covert operations. She's also long-suffering with her dotty and colorful new employer. India has a biting wit (perhaps a bit too much so for my taste on occasion), but I do admire her intelligence, confidence and assertiveness.

Once again, the primary characters who India plays off of are French and Vincent. This time around, French goes undercover as a dissolute rake, making it easier for him to make inroads with some of the aristocrats in attendance. As with the first book, he's still a pretty opaque character, much of whose life outside the spy realm remains a mystery. Readers are teased by a couple of small things, including French's seeming interest in India, for whom he shows a little deeper care and concern. Vincent is still the rambunctious street urchin who's eager for an adventure. He's become rather attached to French as someone I think he looks up to. He isn't half-bad at the whole spy game himself, keeping an eye on the outside servants and being so young, he can keep to the shadows even more handily. Then there's the Marchioness of Tullibardine for whom India becomes a lady's maid. The elderly woman is quite the character, constantly taking snuff and being a straight-talker who doesn't seem to care much who she offends. In the end, she turns out to be a bit more than she seems at first glance, so I'll be interested to find out if we see any more of her in the other books of the series.

Overall, India Black and the Widow of Windsor was another enjoyable read in this historical mystery/suspense series. This one definitely had more mystery in it than the first one, since India and French are trying to suss out the identity of the Marischal and figure out who is trying to kill Queen Victoria. It also had a healthy helping of action and adventure as they try to elude detection and occasionally run from or fight the bad guys. While there isn't much romance to speak of, India and French do grow a tiny bit closer in this story, where they kiss for the first time. Although French did it while in character as the rake, trying to impress the dissolute Prince of Wales, India found it pleasant in the moment. However, she still maintains that she's not really interested in French in that way, but I think it might be a case of the lady protesting a bit too much. For his part, it's hard to read French since we only see him through India's eyes, but I think he's starting to care for her as well. I guess we'll see as the series progresses. All the other supporting characters made the story more interesting and colorful. The mystery for the most part kept me on my toes. I started to suspect one of the characters who ended up being guilty, but there was another one that I never really saw coming, so good on the author for surprising me. I was a little disappointed that the cover blurb mentioned Christmas, but there was never really anything Christmas-y about it. Otherwise, India Black and the Widow of Windsor was a fun read that's left me looking forward to continuing the series.

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