Glass House [Mass Market Paperback]

The third installment in the Captain Lacey Regecy-era mystery novels, "The Glass House" lived up to my every expectation. I had been really looking forward to reading "The Glass House" ever since I had finished "The Hanover Square Affair," and was pleased to note that this Captain Lacey installment proved to be as riveting and as absorbing as the previous two books.

When the body of a blonde woman in pulled from the river, Captain Lacey's old sergeant, Pomeroy, who now works as a Bow Street Runner, ask Lacey to view the body just in case the dead lady turns up someone Lacey knows: the actress Marianne Simmons. The dead lady turns out not to be Marianne, but Lacey is moved by her death nevertheless, especially when it turns out that she was murdered before being dumped into the river. Further investigation reveals that the dead woman was an ex-actress and current wife of a dried up stick of a lawyer, Mrs. Amelia Chapman, but who was known to her lover (Lord Barbury) and everyone else, as "Peaches." Further investigation also reveals that "Peaches" had a taste for danger and excitement, and that she was a regular attendant of the Glass House, a den of iniquity that catered to the whims and sordid tastes of the upper classes. On the very night of her murder, Lord Barbury was expecting Peaches at the Glass House, but she never showed up. As far as Lacey is concerned, Peaches' death could either be laid at the door of her cuckolded husband, Chapman, or her lover, Lord Barbury. But in order to find the evidence to capture a murderer, Lacey will have to infiltrate the Glass House, come face to with a level of sordidness he's not used to contemplating about, as well as face an old and dangerous enemy, James Denis. Now, Lacey has two tasks: finding Peaches' murderer; and closing down the Glass House and so getting even Denis. But could Lacey in his zeal to cause Denis some inconvenience be overlooking some aspects of Peaches' murder?

Swiftly paced and suspenseful, "The Glass House" was a compelling read from start to finish. Ashley Gardner does a wonderful job of evoking the atmosphere and feel of the age; the descriptions of London are vivid and captivating, and her character studies (esp that of her irresistible and melancholic hero) lifelike. The mystery subplot was nothing to be sneezed at either, being very intriguing and absorbing; and written in a very engaging manner so that one was completely hooked from the very beginning. All in all, I'd vote "The Glass House" as a brilliant read. I will admit to be slightly confused though: the plot synopsis at the back of the book describes Captain Gabriel Lacey as a cashiered officer. If so, how can he still be a half-pay officer, still feted by Society as a bit of a hero?

Gardner does an excellent job of portraying Regency England. His character is the essence of honor, yet is by no means perfect and I find myself wanting to know more about him. There are excellent secondary characters who provide a strong sense of the period. The plot held me from beginning to end. This is a series which has improved with each book, and I find myself anxious to read the next installment.

I am afraid that I am seeing a disappointing trend in the Captain Lacey Regency mystery novels written by Ashley Gardner. At least, the trend is showing up for me. I read the first book (The Hanover Square Affair) and gave it an enthusiastic five star rating. Book two is A Regimental Murder which I rated as four stars. Now this one I have gone to three stars. A lot of time has elapsed between my reading of book one and book three (almost two years) but I remember it very well and how excited I was to have found a modern author who could write such a compelling novel in a marvelous period setting.

The writing is still very good. The period setting and attention to detail is still very good. What I found lacking was the intensity of the mystery. The first victim was a woman found dead in the Thames. Captain Lacey was called to view the body because she resembled a young actress who lodged in the same building as Lacey. It was not Marianne Simmons, and for that Lacey was eternally grateful, but his interest was aroused and he began to make his own investigations as to who this young woman was and why she had been killed, for obviously she had been murdered. No matter how hard Ms Gardner tried, I just did not really feel sympathetic toward this victim. She was not really a good person, even though she was not supposed to be actually a bad person. Her character was like the entire book for me, neither totally good nor totally bad, just sort of mediocre. Boy, talk about damning with faint praise! And if Ms Gardner is going to keep us guessing as to who the murderer is, she might want to stop killing off all the suspects and leaving us with just a very few possibilities. Even readers who are not mystery fanatics won't have much trouble guessing the villain if you kill off so many of the other suspects.

All of the previous characters from the two other novels are back. Colonel and Mrs Brandon are very prominent and I am getting heartily sick of the couple and Captain Lacey quarrelling and wrangling. I know it all had to be repeated for first-time readers but I am still tired of it. Is Lacey supposed to be in love with her? If not, why are we hanging on to these two characters? I like the character of Grenville but just don't see where the author is trying to lead us in regards to his obsession with Marianne. Please, Ms Gardner, tell me that you explain that situation better in forthcoming books.

I think this is considered a stand alone novel. I'm not so sure of that. If I ever recommend this series to a friend I will make sure to tell them to read the books in order. I have all the others, I will read all the others and fervently hope that book four will put me back to my original enthusiastic liking for this series. If not, the rest may just go into my to-go box without being read.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 7 reviews  3.9 out of 5 stars