Shall We Dance?
1820 England: King George III has died, and his son, King George IV, intends to enjoy his coronation day without his hated wife, Queen Caroline. In seeking a divorce, the King’s allies have dispatched spies to Hammersmith, where the Queen resides, seeking proof of her rumored infidelities, including the contents of a secret box. The Queen, however, has her own allies, including Amelia Fredericks, an orphan the Queen adopted as a child—or did she? Is it possible that there is a secret heir to the throne? The retired Minister of the Admiralty, Sir Willard Humphrey, dispatches his nephew, Perry Shepherd, to Hammersmith to uncover the Queen’s secrets. Though he despises working for his uncle and using the talents he acquired during the war with Napoleon, Perry carries on with his mission in the hope of protecting the lovely Miss Amelia from the dangers surrounding the Queen. In this novel with more political intrigue than romance, the author has provided readers with a cast of thousands, each character quirkier than the next. The plot plods along at first as everyone is introduced one by one, but the story slowly picks up pace once the threat against the Queen is revealed and the whodunit begins.
