Mary Bennet is a Spy for the British Government!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Author

TYPE OF NOVEL: Pride and Prejudice Sequel about a Secondary Character

SERIES: The Secret Life of Mary Bennet #2 (I’d recommend reading Book One of this series – The Secret Life of Mary Bennet – prior to this book)

THE PREMISE: Mary is in London for the Season working as a spy for the British government, and her assignment is to investigate the murder of a messenger who worked for various members of Parliament. Is his death related to a political uprising or overthrow? Or is there a connection to Napoleon’s actions in France? Will Mary be able to work on this case without the Darcys discovering the truth about her secret life…?

MY THOUGHTS:

I’ve always loved stories that spotlight and flesh out Mary Bennet’s character, and I love that there are currently two series that portray her investigating crimes and solving mysteries – I am here for them both! With Mary being studious and often overlooked, her developing astute observational skills and enjoying the secretive nature of spy work is a very believable journey.

What I am enjoying most about this series is Mary – witnessing her work as a spy, her character evolution, and her relationships with others. I feel like Katherine Cowley deeply understands Mary and portrayed her with both authenticity and sensitivity. She shows Mary’s unease in social situations and conditioning to keep her feelings to herself. And she also displays Mary’s growth – how she has shed her judgmental views and priggish superiority, and how she tentatively opens herself up for deeper relationships. I really enjoyed seeing how Mary began to trust her spy partner, Fanny Cramer, and understand her sister, Kitty, in a new way.

In addition, I loved seeing how fearless and resourceful Mary was when it came to her spy work. She gets into some dangerous and unpleasant situations. And like with her previous studies with accomplishments, Mary shows a lot of determination and perseverance. And yet Mary must engage in subterfuge and hide all her spy work activities from her family. How they wanted to spend time with her and how she kept needing to go all these places and make up falsehoods – it was interesting to see her deal with those new challenges.

As for the mystery itself, I think it was well done and engaging. There is a large host of new characters introduced and it was fascinating to see all the ways Katherine Cowley implemented actual historic events and incorporated them in her plot, such as the Ice Fair on the Thames River in 1814 and the Customs House explosion. I’ll admit though, I did sometimes find the political aspects of the story a little harder to follow. I’m not sure if it was because of my own lack of interest in their affairs and policies or if there were maybe too many characters and personal agendas to remember. A dramatis personae would have been an excellent resource.

With The True Confessions of a London Spy, Katherine Cowley delivers another thrilling and transformative adventure for our Mary Bennet! Readers who love mysteries, stories with rich historical backdrops, and the evolution of a quiet and overlooked character into a courageous and admirable heroine will adore this series. And the wonderful news is that the final installment of this series – The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception – will be released shortly (September 2022)!

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