Enjoyed the introduction of a new member of the Beatrice Hyde-Clare universe in this new-series debut "A Lark's Tale," but got bogged down in the minutiae of too many villains and too many machinations.
This book will be best appreciated by those already familiar with the Beatrice Hyde-Clare books by the same author, as Verity Lark is the unacknowledged half-sister to the Duke of Kesgrave. Growing up in vastly different circumstances, Verity lives by means of her wits as the undercover gossip columnist who is everywhere and nowhere, "Mr. Twaddle-Thum." But when she realizes that someone is masquerading as her/him, and that her own life is in danger, a nefarious plot starts to unravel, and she is determined to see it through to its conclusion.
I enjoyed Verity as a character, as well as her long-suffering friends Freddie and Delphine. I also enjoyed the way she investigates the Kesgraves' investigations--it's a sort of outsider's view of their cases from the last few books. And I enjoyed her interactions with Mr. X, who starts out by forestalling her attempt to rescue a damsel in distress, and then challenges her at every turn with his inside information.
What didn't I enjoy? The plot that Verity stumbles on, mostly in the latter half of the book, is too full of people and names and layers and higher-ups and lackeys, and I just stopped keeping track after a while and skimmed.
The characterizations were fun as always, but I could wish for somewhat less complicated intrigue--or at least, with fewer names to keep track of.

Verity Lark is a gossip columnist for the London Daily Gazette. The appeal of Verity is not only her scintillating wit but the manner of her investigations for new material for her column. Verity uses a diverse array of female and male disguises to conduct investigations based on submissions from her network of spies that are well compensated for their reporting. She is adept at changing plans spontaneously during her fieldwork and her column is penned under the pseudonym of Mr. Twaddle-Thum.

I appreciate complexities in an investigation and can enjoy a large cast of characters. However, this large cast of characters was sometimes difficult to track as within the abundance of red herrings and twists the flow is interrupted by Verity’s dissection of her interrogations in the very midst of them. Her thoughtful analysis frequently lingered over multiple paragraphs. To this end, as Verity is thinking of the next steps I found it easy to drift from the dialogue due to the interruptions of analysis.

As I enjoyed the dynamics with Delphine and Freddie I’ll give a future mystery in the series another try.

My sincere thanks to Lynn Messina, and The Book Whisperer for my complimentary digital copy of this title, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

#ALarksTale #NetGalley

Verity is a journalist. She uses a male penname and rather enjoys dressing up as a man (men have a lot more freedom than women) to get information. In fact, she'd make a great spy. She's a master of disguises, loves the thrill of breaking into people's homes, and knows just what to say so that people will give her the information she wants.
She has a whole cast of (male) characters complete with a costume, personality and backstory and she skillfully decides which to dress up as depending on the situation and what information she needs.

If you're looking for a clean, historical mystery with a strong female lead, look no further.
This book was a solid 3.5 stars.

Verity was an interseting character to follow. This is, essentially, a murder mystery. And, still, it was a funny, sarcastic, witty read. Verity's logical thought process and witty humor didn't disappoint, even in the face of illegal activities, peril, and men pointing pistols at her. In her mind, finding out who exactly wants her dead, and why, is no different than sneaking into someone's home to be the first to know the menu for the party of the century. (Which means that the book isn't all that scary, though there is murder and violence in it).
<spoiler>
Make no mistake, though. While Verity's a great detective in her own right, and just as good as any man would be, there's a character she meets halfway through who seems to be one step ahead of her in everything. So, by the end she's not completely on her own in solving the great murder mystery.
</spoiler>

The opening scene was a nice touch. It's an interesting start to the book, though it leaves a lot of questions. And, when the book finally reaches the same scene, this time we understand what's happening, and what's at stake.

I found the book a bit overwhelming at times. Maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I had previously read [author:Lynn Messina|42550]'s Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries. Or, if I was more familiar with London in the 19th century and all the important people and the lingo used back then.
As it is, there were too many names and details for me to remember and they all blended together. In some scenes I felt a bit like I was being read a list of details, which made everything that much more confusing (though Verity managed to understand it all). And, it definitely didn't help that half the characters were made up and only existed in Verity's mind.

<i>
Friday, April 17
11:03 a.m
</i>
Also, while the dates in the beginning of each chapter were a nice idea, they didn't help much. No way was I remembering the date from the previous section to know how far back it was (or was it in the future?). There were too many other details to wrap my head around at the same time.

The book is technically historical, with historical names and places and technology. However, the characters don't specifically <i>feel </i> historical. Verity and a few other women in the book, all seem to think it's normal to dress up as man. They don't act anything like the historical fiction woman I'm familiar with. Yeah, technically they were rebelling by dressing as men. But no man ever says anything about it. And, the women don't feel any anger or shame or any sort of emotion that I'd imagine think one would feel in such a situation. So, it was almost possible to imagine it wasn't happening so long ago, since in most situations the women dressed and acted similar to women we know nowadays.

There's no romance in the book, either,<spoiler> though there is potential for one in books to come</spoiler>. I found this quite refreshing as it left room for mystery and investigations and danger that made the story as exciting as it is.

Content to be aware of:
The book is clean overall with while including mentions of a few more mature concepts.
<spoiler>
There are mentions of bribery, gambling, mistresses, lots of murder none with any bloody details, threat of being shot, Verity goes to Newgate and a few other prisons, which horrify her.
We're told Verity feels men treat all women as potential bedmates. Which is why, I believe, most of the book she's dressed as a man.
Verity follows a man who goes up a staircase leading to a brothel. She waits for him downstairs.
Verity's mother was some unknown man's mistress when she had Verity, and left her at an orphanage. Then, she became pregnant with a Duke's child, and he married her. Verity often thinks how interesting it is that her half-brother has such a different life than her.
Verity grows up in an orphanage with a horrible woman, Miss Wraithe, who sells the girls as brides and has the boys work as slaves.
Somehow, Verity manages to get out of the future awaiting her, turns herself into a success story, and takes revenge on Miss Wraithe. (I think she had her put in prison.)

<i>Verity, at nine knew more than two dozen vulgarities to describe various parts of the human body, both male and female. </i>
In the first chapter Verity calls Miss Wraithe by one of them. And, Verity's penname, Twaddle-Thum, becomes the nickname for Miss Wraithe, as a result of that conversation.
</spoiler>

This is set in the world of Beatrice Hyde-Clare, but follows Verity and a few of her fellow orphans. It's definitely a different side of society that Verity belongs to. I quite enjoyed this, I look forward to seeing Verity's growth. She is stubborn but loyal to her little family. She and Hardwick have a nice dynamic, and I liked finally seeing what the heck was up with Holcroft. There is a lot, a lot of exposition in this, I would have liked a bit more dialogue, as I think the dialogue is a lot of fun. But it's a first book and it's laying the groundwork. Now, my one big thing is, I cannot see how this is a stand alone. I've read all the Beatrice Hyde-Clare books and even I had a hard time remembering everything. If you haven't read them, I can't see how you wouldn't be lost, and I'm not sure you'd care at all about the plot. All that said, for someone already familiar with the world, this is enjoyable and I look forward to seeing where Lynn Messina takes this series. I received an ARC and am willingly giving an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this romp through 19th century London- think Dickens meets Sherlock Holmes meets Miss Fisher meets Bridgerton- a classic murder mystery ‘whodunnit’ with a great amount of humour sandwiched in!

Things I loved:
- Verity is a courageous, intelligent and witty heroine- we live a strong FMC!
- The side characters of Delphine and Freddie were stellar.
- There is a great dynamic between Verity and Hardwicke that will hopefully be explored in further works!

Things to think about:
- At times the plot moved slowly and was a little convoluted.

In general, a great read, and I look forward to more!

Verity Lark was a really well done historical character, I was invested in the newspaper angle. I loved that Verity was was gossip columnist and found it to be a interesting set in the historical world. Lynn Messina has a great way of writing a interesting story with great characters. It was what I was looking for in this type of book and I'm excited to read more from the author.

"Verity, seeing no advantage to entering the fray, evaded the question as she sat at the table next to Freddie and thanked him for saving her a trip to the Gazette’s offices. “I have pledged to advertise in the Evening Courier-Standard, and I require you to send one of your clerks with the proper notice."