The Birth of Blue Satan

Rating:
Summary: On the way to being a classic!
Review: In picking up a copy of The Birth of Blue Satan, one can sense the strength of the story by the size, the attractive cover, and the book jacket information. In opening the book, one will find a solid, impressive beginning to a history mystery that could very well be the lead of a classic series. Am I exaggerating? Not at all. Patricia Wynn is coming into the historical mystery genre as a well-established author, and it shows in the strong plot, fully developed characters, and historical details.

It's 1715 in England, when politics and parties are a matter of life or death for rich and poor alike, as Gideon Viscount St. Mars discovers through his father, Earl of Hawkhurst. As the story begins, Gideon is obsessed with one thought, the woman haunting his dreams. Upon getting to the ball, to see Mademoiselle Isabella Mayfield, Gideon finds himself dealing with an angry father, a deadly rider, and dangerous politics. As the story moves, these subjects possess Gideon's life and conscious sending him into hiding and reappearing as the Blue Satan in order to save his own life and find a murderer. The ending shows us the series will be a continuing adventure of politics, romance, and mystery. Other impressive characters are Mrs. Kean, Isabella's cousin, and Gideon's employees, Tom and Philippe.

Rating:
Summary: A totally engaging and eminently satisfying mystery
Review: Pat Wynn is a proven master at the Regency mystery genre. Her newest novel set in the era of Georgian England -- when gentlemen settled their quarrels with swords and the women have secrets of their own. In The Birth Of Blue Satan, it is 1715 and George I has ascended the British throne, while displaced James Stuart lives exiled in France. Stuart's supporters scheme to retake the crown and Gideon Viscount St. Mars returns from a three-year Grand Tour to discover that his father is a suspected Jacobite who has been banned from the Court. On the brink of marriage, Gideon is accused of murder and whit no friends at Court must choose to escape or be hanged. Assuming the disguise of the highwayman Blue Satan (and with the help of his friend, Hester Kean -- waiting woman to the lady he had hoped to marry) he uncovers the secrets that have plunged his life into danger. Patricia Wynn offers a satirical view of Court society in this totally engaging and eminently satisfying mystery that will delight her legions of fans and leave them waiting eagerly for more!

Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Surprise
Review: This outing, the first in a planned series, by author Patricia Wynn is set in 1715 England immediately after George of Hanover is crowned king. The Whigs are the political party in power having convinced George that the Tories support the Pretender. Gideon Viscount St. Mars has returned from his three-year Grand Tour of the continent and fallen in love with Isabella Mayfield - a woman his father believes to be far beneath his son. Shortly after arguing violently with his father about his intentions to marry Isabella, his father is killed. St. Mars is, of course, the prime suspect because everyone in his father's house heard him arguing with his father. St. Mars is seriously wounded by an unknown assailant on his way to a ball that very evening - a damning incident in that his father's dying words were that he had wounded his assailant. It is as if all the world conspires to prove that St. Mars murdered his father - all but his faithful servants and Mrs. Hester Kean, Isabella's cousin.

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did - the author is a well-known Romance writer - and I've never been a Romance reader. However, I was immediately hooked by the mystery of who killed St. Mars' father. Wynn has written a Romance novel with an excellent mystery interwoven throughout. The pace of the book could have used a boost to its speed, but other than that, it is well written. St. Mars and Mrs. Kean are excellently drawn and immediately likable. Even Isabella who is an eighteenth century air head becomes likable as the book draws to an end. And Isabella's scheming mother, while not likable, is certainly well drawn.

The mystery is a good mystery as there is no scarcity of suspects, each with a motive to do murder, and the individual actually guilty of the deed is introduced early enough to not be a surprise when he is uncovered as the murderer. The history appears to be right on the money - Wynn introduces enough period history, i.e., the rivalry between the Whigs and Tories for George's largesse, to be interesting but not to become the focus of the book, which always remains the mystery of who did the murder.

Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Surprise
Review: This outing, the first in a planned series, by author Patricia Wynn is set in 1715 England immediately after George of Hanover is crowned king. The Whigs are the political party in power having convinced George that the Tories support the Pretender. Gideon Viscount St. Mars has returned from his three-year Grand Tour of the continent and fallen in love with Isabella Mayfield - a woman his father believes to be far beneath his son. Shortly after arguing violently with his father about his intentions to marry Isabella, his father is killed. St. Mars is, of course, the prime suspect because everyone in his father's house heard him arguing with his father. St. Mars is seriously wounded by an unknown assailant on his way to a ball that very evening - a damning incident in that his father's dying words were that he had wounded his assailant. It is as if all the world conspires to prove that St. Mars murdered his father - all but his faithful servants and Mrs. Hester Kean, Isabella's cousin.

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did - the author is a well-known Romance writer - and I've never been a Romance reader. However, I was immediately hooked by the mystery of who killed St. Mars' father. Wynn has written a Romance novel with an excellent mystery interwoven throughout. The pace of the book could have used a boost to its speed, but other than that, it is well written. St. Mars and Mrs. Kean are excellently drawn and immediately likable. Even Isabella who is an eighteenth century air head becomes likable as the book draws to an end. And Isabella's scheming mother, while not likable, is certainly well drawn.

The mystery is a good mystery as there is no scarcity of suspects, each with a motive to do murder, and the individual actually guilty of the deed is introduced early enough to not be a surprise when he is uncovered as the murderer. The history appears to be right on the money - Wynn introduces enough period history, i.e., the rivalry between the Whigs and Tories for George's largesse, to be interesting but not to become the focus of the book, which always remains the mystery of who did the murder.