Fresh from her breathless debut in A Foreign Affair (Death at Dawn in the UK, also reviewed on Myshelf.com) Liberty Lane is lodging in London close to her best friend Daniel.  But the young, rising politician Disraeli is keen for her to undertake an assignment for him, looking into the life of notorious dancer Columbine, now once again gracing the London stage.  Not long after Libby starts to take in interest, the dancer is murdered and all the clues point towards one of the chorus girls, who fought with Columbine on the stage not long before the murder.  Trouble is, fragile Jenny is the girl that Daniel has just fallen deeply in love with.

I enjoyed the first in the series, apart from its awesome length; I was therefore pleased to see what a slim volume this is.  Not only slim, but far more packed with incident to go with more taut writing, a real sense of urgency, and a tortuous plot that I did not guess.  You can only achieve that when you pare down the word count and I was glued to this book, eagerly flipping the pages to see how it all turns out.

As with all the best series books, I was left with some clues as to what might happen next.  This story is set during the year young Princess Vicky became Queen Victoria, and one of the threads running through the story is how the old post-Regency world is changing to become the new Victorian age.  Ms Peacock has created a very tangible backdrop of the seedier side of London rubbing shoulders with the luxury and privilege of the most powerful in the land.  This is one new series that is shaping up very well, and I eagerly await the third installment next year.