Review: Short and sassy.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 1, 2013
Well, I like this story but I feel a bit ripped off, with only 63 pages and a price of $2.99.  Perhaps I'd feel more generous with stars if it had cost 99 cents, a more equitable price.I've grown fond of this series' heroine, India Black, brothel madam now working with handsome British agent French for the British government in Victorian England.  However, this story is just action/adventure with no time spent further developing the relationship between French and India, nor does it give us any more insights into India's past.  (Well, it is only 63 pages.  What can one expect?)As for the plot, this has agent French going to France to effect a spy exchange.  He takes a captured spy working for the Russians to exchange for a man captured by the Russians who has been spying for the British.  When India gets wind of this and wants in on the action (and a trip to Paris for dining and shopping, of course), she is told in no uncertain terms by French that she is not to be included.Of course, she goes ahead and surreptitiously follows him to France.  Turns out French is exceedingly lucky she does so, considering all the misadventures on the way to the City of Light and the spy exchange.  But that brings me to my other problem with this story:  French doesn't come across as very competent this time around.  I prefer him more macho, take-charge and efficient.  He and India muddle through together on more or less equal footing in this short story or perhaps she even comes out ahead.  Since he's the professional and she's a rank amateur, that shouldn't be the case.However, a full-length novel is coming soon and an excerpt is included here.  It looks to be more to my liking.  February, 2014India Black and the Gentleman Thief (A Madam of Espionage Mystery).