The Glass House

ByAshley Gardner & Jennifer Ashley

Release Date: 2014-01-13
Genre: Historical Mysteries

Score: 4.5

4.5

From 125 Ratings

Description

On a cold January night in 1817, I am summoned by a Bow Street Runner to the banks of the Thames to identify the body of a young woman. It turns out I do not know her, but discover that she is the wife of a Middle Temple barrister, as well as dear to one of Grenville's friends, who begs me to find out who killed her.

My search for the murderer takes me to Whitechapel and a place called The Glass House, a sordid gaming hell that attracts gentlemen of the haut ton and plays a large part in the victim's past.

As I uncover secrets from the highborn and the low, I become drawn deeper into the schemes of the crime lord James Denis and explore my tentative new friendship with Lady Breckenridge.

But someone does not want me to expose the secrets of the Glass House and takes steps to silence me forever.

Reviews

Engrossing mystery. Very well written
5
By Ruby0048
-Absorbing mystery surrounding Captain Gabriel Lacey, in early 18th Century London. He's a retired army officer, wounded in a war with the French. In previous books in the series we saw how he had been married, but his wife left him for a Frenchman and took their daughter as well. He has an ongoing fued with Captain Aloyseus Brandon who was his superior officer and who is married to his closest friend, Louisa. When Captain Brandon was his commanding officer, he sent him on a mission where Lacey was guaranteed to be killed with almost no gain, and Lacey has never forgiven him.
-Lacey is called in to assist the authorities in determining who killed a young woman by the name of Amelia Chapman. She is the wife of a barrister, but he notices an unusual ring on the dead woman's finger. Through his friend, Grenville, he is able to locate the jeweler who made the ring as each jeweler leaves a specific mark. From there, they discover the owner of the ring, Lord Barbury, and it comes out that the two have been having an affair from even before her marriage.
-Lacey, in order to get a better background of Mrs. Chapman's life, finds that she came to London after the death of her parents, to be an actress. She started seeing Lord Barbury, who gave her the nickname, Peaches, but because of their different social stations, could not marry her. She left him and married Mr. Chapman which turned out to be a loveless marriage. When she and Lord Barbury met a few years later, they resurrected their love affair.
-In London, there was a place where society people went where they could satisfy their most depraved desires. It was called the Glass House. It was to this place that Mrs. Chapman was strangely connected. It was also a place that seemed to be immune from the authorities, and it could not be closed down.
-As Lacey penetrated the secrets of the Glass House using a combination of wits and force, mysterious deaths followed, and it was up to Captain Lacey to discover the link between all of them. Various characters from previous books are woven into the story, to excellent effect.
-As equally absorbing as the previous mysteries, this book continues with Lacey's personal demons that seem to overpower him at times. His bluntness combined with his chivalrous manners also makes him attractive to the opposite sex which introduces other interesting story lines.
-Extremely enjoyable.