And the Third

The third book in Lee's Victorian series:

Nightingale's Gate by Linda Francis Lee
(2000, Victorian) 3/28/06
Grade: 3

The third brother in this series, Lucas, owns a gentleman’s club. His family, especially his father, disapprove of his lifestyle, but when he’s accused of murdering a prostitute, they hire attorney Alice Kendall. A female attorney is rare at the time, but Alice is determined to win the case. But she’ll have to delve into family secrets.

This book is a better mystery than it is a romance. I wanted to find out who committed the murder, and the author takes us through a number of red herrings before revealing the killer. I liked the character of Alice, struggling to succeed in a man’s world. But some of the plot doesn’t make sense, particularly Alice’s involvement with Lucas. It seemed like it was thrown in to make the book “romantic”, but it seemed completely out of character and unprofessional, and the relationship seemed forced. It wasn’t romantic at all. If the author wanted to write a mystery, she should have just written one, instead of forcing a romantic subplot that didn’t make much sense.

I've loved several of Linda Francis Lee's books, but this series was increasingly disappointing.