The Agency 4: Rivals in the City
Mary Quinn, a half-Chinese, half-Irish orphan raised by a secret all-female detective agency in Victorian London, has founded her own firm with her fiancé, James Easton, following a rift between her two mentors. Torn between her feelings for James and her wish to put off their marriage and maintain her independence, Mary takes on an assignment from Anne Treleaven, one of her mentors at the Agency. Henry Thorold, convicted of fraud, is dying in prison, and Anne believes Thorold’s wife, the mastermind behind his crimes, will return to London to visit him. Mary’s task is to intercept Mrs. Thorold before she commits another crime and to keep an eye on the Thorolds’ daughter, Angelica, to see whether she’s innocent or in league with her mother. On a previous case, Mrs. Thorold had tried to kill James, but didn’t know of the connection between James and Mary, so the two of them must go their separate ways or their lives will be in danger. Meanwhile, a Chinese prizefighter who has come to London holds the key to some secrets in Mary’s own past.
Rivals in the City is full of intrigue, danger, and twists and turns, and is a worthy sequel to the previous Agency books, though the series is best read in order because of the developing relationships. Since Mary and James are separated through most of the novel, I found I missed the witty dialogue between them, which was one of my favorite features of the previous books. However, I understood that because of the way the plot was designed, it had to be that way. If this is the last in the series as the author has said, it is a fitting conclusion, but I hope we will see more of Mary and James.
