About the book...
*Title: The Debutante's Code
*Author: Erica Vetsch
*Genre: Christian, Mystery, Regency, Romance
*Series: Book #1 of the Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries trilogy
*Recommend for: ages 15 & up
My Personal Rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖Synopsis
Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes in this new Regency mystery series
Newly returned from finishing school, Lady Juliette Thorndike is ready to debut in London society. Due to her years away, she hasn't spent much time with her parents, and sees them only as the flighty, dilettante couple the other nobles love. But when they disappear, she discovers she never really knew them at all. They've been living double lives as government spies--and they're only the latest in a long history of espionage that is the family's legacy.
Now Lady Juliette is determined to continue their work. Mentored by her uncle, she plunges into the dangerous world of spy craft. From the glittering ballrooms of London to the fox hunts, regattas, and soirees of country high society, she must chase down hidden clues, solve the mysterious code her parents left behind, and stay out of danger. All the while, she has to keep her endeavors a secret from her best friend and her suitors--not to mention nosy, irritatingly handsome Bow Street runner Daniel Swann, who suspects her of a daring theft.
Can Lady Juliette outwit her enemies and complete her parents' last mission? Or will it lead her to a terrible end?
💭My Thoughts
"Using only her index finger, Juliette slowly played the opening notes of the Mozart tune. One measure, two, three, and at the end of the fourth, a barely audible click came, sending a vibration through her fingers, and a small door opened on the side of the pianoforte. A weak thump sounded as a fabric-wrapped parcel fell out of the now open compartment and onto the rug."
This started out rather slow for me personally, and the story just didn't keep my attention for the first 80-100 pages or so. However, once I got to that point of getting into it more, I found it very intriguing and fun!
One part I absolutely loved was the nod to Mozart, and more specifically to his composition Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Fun fact, that was the very first song I learned to play on piano in its entirety at the age of 10 or so, so it was fun to see in this story!
I also loved that the romance was quite light. It didn't take over the plot at all, which I so appreciated. Actually, the plot was so strong on its own, I think the book would have been better without any romance at all! But the fact that the male lead suspected the female lead of being a thief and a scoundrel for a large portion of the book, instead of them constantly noticing each other and wanting to kiss, was right up my alley. 😉
Another thing I noted that is random but that I appreciated was how the book dealt with a certain murder taking place. It was just viewed as so wrong, so evil, so sad...I have read a few mysteries before that were almost insensitive to the taking of another's life, so it was great to see the opposite in this one.
As far as the Christian faith content goes, it was very light. I was a little disappointed that there really weren't any real gospel conversations, or extended time in prayer, or major, detailed faith growth or anything like that. Basically, every once in a while, Juliette or Daniel would just briefly talk to God, usually something along the lines of "Dear God, please don't let this happen", "Lord, how am I supposed to do this?" or "Help me, God." In my opinion, though, that really wasn't a major part of the book at all.
Particularly in the first chunk of the book, I was getting pretty annoyed with Juliette. She would bring every little thing back to her parents' absence. While it was completely understandable and reasonable for her to be distressed about the fact that when she arrived back home after years in a boarding school, her parents weren't even there to greet her, in my opinion, it was a little much. She was very repetitive and came across as whiny and distrustful.
In addition, I didn't fully understand every single aspect of the whole spy network thing, and I think Daniel's mysterious patron situation could have been explained a bit better, but perhaps that's just me. Also, I've seen this note in several reviews of this book, and I believe I would agree: There was a lot going on, and a lot of characters to keep up with!
Overall, I enjoyed The Debutante's Code quite a bit and will probably look into the rest of the books of the Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries series at some point soon!
⚠️Content notes
Drinking, drunkenness & hangovers; smoking; No language stronger than "hang it" and "idiotic''; Daniel is an illegitimate child & resents his mother (he calls himself things like "by-blow" and "baseborn"); several murders have happened/happen in the book; Some details of an autopsy, morgue; Mentions of getting sick at the autopsy, smell of death, some details about the corpse; detailed description of how a victim was killed with a knife from a medical standpoint; someone suggests that a victim could have been murdered because of "trifling with some man's wife"; Blood, injuries & pain; an execution mentioned and happens off-page; A little noticing, smelling, and noticing lips. Note: Lying, deception & stealing mentioned & done throughout the book, but it's necessary and part of spy craft. Juliette grapples with that moral dilemma.
💖Read for…
-Regency England backdrop
-Spies
-Art theft
-Murder mystery
-Light romance and faith content
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Bookishly yours,
Lottie M.
