Lady Pamela Taylor is quite enjoying her London Season, but as the daughter of very proper and traditional parents nobody is noticing her. One day all that changes, when a mysterious package is delivered which contains a stunning diamond and sapphire necklace and a message. Presumably this is for another Pamela—but who can that be? Her parents would have a fit if they saw the item, so instead she goes to the Duke of Wexford for help, as he has a reputation for solving mysteries. Overnight, with the help of both the Duke and the necklace, Pamela is transformed into a sensation, but none of the men who cluster around her is the one she loves...

I always say that if you have read everything Georgette Heyer wrote and want the quintessence of Regency romance then reach for a book by Emily Hendrickson. In here is all the glamor and sparkle of the Season, complete with Wednesday evenings at Almacks complaining about the food to drives in the parks and waltzing at balls. Add to that the amiable and sensible (though highly likeable) protagonists and a frisson of mystery with the necklace and you have all the elements of a good story. As always there is the sense—ever present—of everything having been the product of thorough research. This exists as the underpinning of the book rather than raising its head in passages of schoolbook description, thus making the whole the most Regency experience outside of a time machine. Very enjoyable, and I put the book down wanting more rather than wishing that there had been less.