Description (from cover):'Georgia Fenchurch appears to be an unassuming antiquarian bookseller in Victorian London, but the life she leads is as exciting as any adventure novel. For Georgia is a member of the Archivist Society, a secret association of private investigators led by the mysterious Sir Broderick.
When a frantic woman approaches Georgia claiming that her neighbor, Nicholas Drake, has been abducted by the notorious Duke of Blackford, Georgia and the Archivist Society agree to take the case. But Drake is no innocent--he is a thief who has been blackmailing many of the leading members of London society. To find Drake and discover who is behind his abduction, Georgia and her beautiful assistant, Emma, will have to leave the cozy confines of their bookshop and infiltrate the inner circles of the upper crust--with the help of the dashing but dubious Duke of Blackford himself.
But the missing thief and his abductor are not the only ones to elude Georgia Fenchurch. When she spies the man who killed her parents years ago, she vows to bring him to justice once and for all...at any cost.'
My thoughts:
One of the main reasons I read is to escape into a good story and to leave behind the worries of real life. I think a lot of people read for the same reason. Getting lost in good characters and a good story that will make you forget about everyday trivialities is priceless for me. When I first learned of this book, I felt that this would be possible. I love dearly the Victorian era and toss in a mystery and books, well I was sure that I would love this one. I was so wrong. For some reason, with all the things I tend to love added in, this book absolutely did not work for me. I would be reading this and something, anything would distract me and I would lose focus. That is rare for me when reading something I am truly absorbed into and part of rating a book for me is to focus on how well it kept my attention. I feel that if a book can capture my attention and make me forget about everything else for a little while, well then it is a success.
I just couldn't get into this story. There were a lot of characters and people to keep up with and it was really confusing. The plot was slipshod and the characters lacked depth. I would find other things to do than to read this book. That is a major rarity for me. I love to read and to spend my time doing something else is utterly foreign. I think that the only thing that I enjoyed was the fact that there is a hint of mystery surrounding several of the main characters. With Georgia, it's the circumstances surrounding her parents' death. With Sir Broderick, it's the circumstances that made him be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Sadly, this wasn't enough to make this book stand out.
I read a ton of Victorian era books, especially set in London. There were a few instances where I would read something and it would catch me off guard as something that probably wasn't invented or around in that era. It seems that the author didn't really research the time period. I am huge on historical accuracy. I can't exactly remember what it was that threw me off, but I remember reacting to it at the time and knowing that it wouldn't have been possible at that time. This book had potential, but sadly, the small things amounted to something bigger and turned me off on this one. Completely disappointed in this one as I thought I would love it.
Overall Rating: 1.5
Title: The Vanishing Thief
Author: Kate Parker
Series: Victorian Bookshop Mystery #1
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: December 3, 2013
Pages: 304
Genre: Historical Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected by myself through Booksfree.com and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
