The action of Point of Honour takes place in an alt-Regency England: one where there’s a Queen-Regent (because Prinny’s only and acknowledged marriage is to Mrs Fitzherbert), where Fallen Women take noms d’amour (like Miss Tolerance), and where women have their own clubs just as the men have Brook’s or Boodle’s (and where Miss Tolerance, who supports herself as an Agent of Inquiry rather than as a prostitute, meets her clients).

I really enjoyed this! It’s a nice mash-up of Austen/mystery noir/historical romp—gowns! murders! escapes on horseback!—which was exactly what I was in the mood for. The lead character, Sarah Tolerance, is methodical and practical and skilled with a sword, but Madeleine Robins doesn’t fall into the trap of having her be Not Like the Other Girls or Ahead of Her Time. There’s a matter-of-fact reference, for instance, to her sitting and darning a basket of socks which I appreciated, because of course a woman living in straitened circumstances in the 1810s would be doing that herself! I also respected the fact that Robins followed through on the emotional costs of the plot.

There are a couple of wobbles with the language, though less than you normally find in Regency pastiches; other issues with the history are minor and easy to handwave as a result of the historical divergence. Overall, great fun and I will definitely be trying to track down the second book in this series. ( )

Interesting combination of Regency period, alternate history, and hardboiled detecting. Writing is good and the characters are memorable. Definitely worth spending time with. ( )

For the first ten or twenty pages, I was worried that the author had mistaken verbosity and the odd archaic word for style, but that preciousness drops off after the plot picks up.

Overall, a fun page-turner and I'll be looking for the next one in the series. ( )

Bring a bit "willing suspension of disbelief" to your reading of this new ya.
, as some of the historical details are topsy- turvey. The heroine is rather spectacular, however. Her independence and intelligence make the book worth it. ( )

3.5 stars

I like this book; I'm not sure why I don't love it. It's well written, has some fun AU worldbuilding, and has a suitably twisty mystery. Something kept me at a distance from it, but I would recommend it to anyone who reads the summary and says, "That sounds like something I'd like." ( )