Book Review ~ India Black

India Black (Madame of Espionage Mysteries #1)

by Carol K. Carr
published by Berkley Trade
genre: Adult, Mystery, Historical Fiction,

Summary (Goodreads): When Sir Archibald Latham of the War Office dies from a heart attack while visiting her brothel, Madam India Black is unexpectedly thrust into a deadly game between Russian and British agents who are seeking the military secrets Latham carried.

Blackmailed into recovering the missing documents by the British spy known as French, India finds herself dodging Russian agents-and the attraction she starts to feel for the handsome conspirator.

My Thoughts: This was a nice mix of two genres that I wish I read more of. I enjoy both mysteries and historicals but am picky about what I read in each.
India was a humorous, straight forward lead. Whether talking about her running of Lotus House or trying to recover a case that seemed to be important to a lot of people, she had something to say even when it would be better if she didn't.
I wanted to like the team up of French, India and Vincent more but at times it seemed disjointed. We are lead to believe that there could be some type of attraction between India and French but most of the time they seemed to be occupying the same space  but not aware of each other. There was more interaction/affection from French towards Vincent (not in a bad way) than towards India. They also seemed to have the tools and abilities to end this chase much sooner but when they were in the moment they seemed to forget about their guns, swords, etc.
Overall, even with some of the problems it was a good introduction to a series. There was plenty of action and enough twists and humor to keep me entertained throughout. I am looking forward to reading more about India and how much trouble she can get into with help of French and Vincent.

Rating: 4