Emily Goes To Exeter
The Travelling Matchmaker Series – Book I
M C Beaton

Robinson (Constable and Robinson)
24 February 2011/ ISBN 9781849014793
Historical Romance / 1800 London, the road to Exeter
Amazon US || UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

All her life Hannah Pym has worked for the Clarences of Thornton Hall, starting as a scullery maid and progressing to the rank of housekeeper. When her employer dies, she is amazed to discover that he has left her the princely sum of £5000. It has long been her dream to travel by stagecoach and see as much of England as possible, and now she can. Her first journey is to Exeter, and en route she finds that one of her travelling companions is Emily Freemantle who is running away from an unwanted marriage to a rake. Then the rake turns up, and the party find themselves snowed in at a rural inn…

I love reading Regency romances, and this one is a lot of fun. It is also somewhat different, as the above indicates, with an unusual heroine and an interesting setting. As Ms Beaton also writes whodunits there is also a criminal to unmask as well as highwaymen, some entertaining fellow passengers and amusing situations. For a small book a lot is packed in, and much of it has the ring of authenticity albeit presented in a dramatic way. Stagecoach journeys are rarely described in any real detail in most historical novels but here Ms Beaton tells it like it must have been from the early start to the discomforts, excitements and various stops en route. I’ll be wanting to read the whole series, and if you are also a fan of this type of novel you will enjoy this one too.

Reviewer's Note: