[NOVEL] A Deadly Affair by Carla Simpson

Care to expmail why the main character is described as dark-haired but what I see on the cover is red hair ahaha. It's not the only question I had after reading.

London 1889 — Murder, mystery, and two people in a most unlikely partnership.

She's an unconventional lady who has traveled the world, practices the art of self defense most excellently, and has an interesting tattoo in, ahem... a very unusual place.

He's a former member of the Metropolitan Police, now a private investigator, who grew up on the poverty ridden streets of Edinburgh and has worked the dangerous back alleys of London's notorious East End.

A vicious murder brings them together in a race against time that takes them from the sordid back streets of London into the elite private clubs of the powerful and rich, to find the killer before he strikes again and prevent a deadly scheme.

A scandalous affair, deceptions, and secrets will challenge what they know and what they believe.

Come along as the lady and the detective join forces in an amazing time of new inventions, startling discoveries, and unexpected revelations, where a young woman who doesn't rely on anyone is forced to trust the irascible Scot who is a tough as they come and just might learn a thing or two from her... if they both don't end up dead!

Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe Murder Mystery. Book 1

The book is mid. The one redeeming quality I can mention is that it's easy to read. But I wonder if those grammar errors and typoes are only my thing.

I certainly would not lash out at it like some reviewers, because some of their arguments are basically pretty common things that we come across and it's a matter of preference.

Point main to make - never wait for hystorical accuracy from such books. It reads more like a antasy of authors decided to have and it's a pretty common trait among books that should be set in historical settings.

Now onto personal evaluation.

For me this book suffered the most because it used 1st person POV, we are in Mikaela's head and I'm pretty sure we don't need that. The girl has a bit of main character syndrome and is not bothered by the dangers she may find herself involved in. She is also a bit too headstrong. I think according to plot she had all the right to be so, but author did not dig deeper into it for me. Many pointed out that she tried to make herself useful and prove herself for this investigation, but I think that if we heard more about her and her sister's relationship as a reason, maybe it's give us a different impression. At times I forgot that the reason they're doing this is the fact her sister disappeared. And it's the start of this investigation.

because we're in her head we hear a lot of bits and pieces about her adventures, how she traveled the world and saw many things and also explored some that are considered forbidden or inappropriate for women. The society Mikaela lives in is very forgiving to women I guess, because otherwise she would be riddled with scandal, since her writing endeavors are like an open secret anyway.

I don't know, maybe if she was described as some sort of novelty or interesting entity others find fascinating it would redeem the situation, but for this we need author's voice.

Also we find how many skills she picked up during her travels. I really wish this was in 3rd person POV, because she could have just mentioned in passing as understatement her achievements in protecting herself, instead it sounded like she showed off. I'll be honest I would have been more impressed if she was described as some enigma instead of all the info. Ironic is how Angus said in the novel - it's what they didn't say. Author should take advice from their own character I think.

It's not the first person in historical settings that I find picking up eastern martial arts and I see nothing bad about it, but there's a difference in how you present readers with the information.

I would find it funnier if she would say that she tried cigarettes and whiskey and did not find them appealing ahaha instead she smokes and drinks a lot I think.

Yeah so she was too headstrong and too impulsive, sometimes not in a good way. It felt like she can't rely on others. Well, she admitted it, which was good.

As for Angus Brodie, he is interesting and I'd like to know more about him and his past, but again 1st person POV won't allow some subtlety unless they speak it out.

Unlike others I wasn't mad how Mikaela said too many times that he was a Scot. Because in life I had similar situation when you don't know how to describe a person but they're typical.

But my main thing would be two "plot holes" or how you should call them, for this I need to dive into spoilers.

So the story starts when the sister is missing but we find her maid dead, framed as other murders. Mikaela wants to find her sister Lenore or Lennie, while Lenore's husband does not seem as agitated as her because his wife went missing. For this their influential Aunt Antonia offers a person she thinks is perfect for the job. Private investigater Angus Brodie and Mikaela start their investigation by collecting info. Mikaela tried very hard to insert herself basically everywhere she could. But honestly sometimes she was damn impulsive.

They come into contanct with a person who found the maid, but the person was obviously lying. How convenient that the maid had a resudue under her nail, I wonder if chemical analysis existed in 1889 I have no idea. Anyway they figure she had some chemicals that are not common. Most "recent" would be connected to explosion incident. How two come together and why her sister?

So it happens they find ties to some anarchist group. One of theirs is a woman named Marie, who became involved with Lennie's husband (not really explained or had a deeper dive). Marie and another man deemed to be dangerous, but Mikaela heard their names when visiting a private theater performance by her dear friend (and actress, Mikaela knows everyone) in front of Prince of Wales and also, Lennie's husband. Suspicious.

During the performance tey tried to abduct the Prince, but Mikaela intervened, but was shot in the process. Which is the root of loopholes I think about.

Just a day or so later when they figured where the two escapees went, they gathered forces to arrest them, but Mikaela figured there is no time since she realized there will be something connected to gas, royal family and that radical group. 

Because there was no one around she brought it upon herself to go there and interfere with the plans.

There is not much said about the final scene, I wonder if it ever was important how shallow it looked, but during the Crystal Palace event when things solved pretty quickly, with few apprehended, including Marie (who Mikaela shot dead actually you go girl).

In their lair they found Lennie, who was still alive.

So here are the loopholes, why did they try to kidnap the Prince, if they had grand plan for he Crystal palace poisoning with gas?

And why Lennie was still alive when they had no need for her (don't get me wrong, but they sprinkled London with dead bodies and they didn' use her life to blackmail her husband, though it looked so at first). So Deadly Affair is about her husband getting into contact with wrong people, but this part did not get enough attention and was quite shallow.

Lennie was saved, Mikaela Frenched Brodie as a parting gift and everything was solved nicely.

But unfortunately mostly the book reads as quite shallow. Like who are these forces, will they ever appear again, should we even care?

Mikaela often did some impulsive things (most of the time) and did not think about anything at all, but there was not enough emphasis to me to why she did so. Yeah she mentioned how their parents were dead too many times, but it just wasn't enough for me. Although one could applaude for her bravery to rescue her sister no matter what.

Anyway, pretty filler story. I admit again that this read very fast. But still I think it was not without troubles. The only good hook that I might continue (not sure) is that the second book is about the actress, which was quite a character and the way it was described that she is accused in murder, but the only thing left of the gentlemen is the foot. I laughed, read as black humor to me.

RATE: 3/5.