The Riddle Of The Reluctant Rake (Zebra Regency Romance) (Paperback)

by Patricia Veryan (Author) "It had rained again yesterday, but despite the cold and wet, the Horse Guards on Whitehall had been a noisy place, thronged with military gentlemen,..." (more)
Key Phrases: lady prior, dower house, Miss Hall, Lady Abigail, Miss Prior (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Veteran romance novelist Veryan (The Riddle of the Lost Lover) completes her "Riddle" trilogy with another lively tale in which dashing, charming gentlemen and unconventional ladies triumph in spite of the unforgiving social mores of Regency Britain. Possibly her most mirthful and polished effort yet, this book chronicles the unfair accusation and cashiering of distinguished Lt.-Col. Hastings Adair (introduced in the earlier books) for a crime he did not commit: he's accused of robbing a London maiden of her virtue. Court-martialed, and with his family turned against him, Hasty has only his friends Toby Broderick, Jack Vespa and Paige Manderville to help him find the real perpetrator and thus clear his name before some overzealous citizen or ill-meaning conspirator does him in. Dodging society's literal and figurative brickbats, Hasty manages to enlist the help of his purported young victim's family in this effort, and once he's won the trust of the redoubtable, eccentric Lady Abigail Prior and the courageous beauty Cecily Hall, he begins to make some progress. Nearly losing his life in a duel with a suspect, Hasty discovers he must direct his attentions closer to home, searching out all the Prior family secrets in order to answer the riddle. Her characters nicely delineated, Veryan sets a sprightly pace for her engaging plot, serving up a sparkling romance and a mystery with a subtle denouement. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"Another joyous reading experience".

-- Romantic Times (****1/2)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Zebra; Reprint edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821767410
• ISBN-13: 978-0821767412
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,244,630 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Veryan's best, but still worth reading, October 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Riddle of the Reluctant Rake (Hardcover)

I wanted to give this book 3 1/2 stars, but the choices are 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (no halves). I opted to give it a full four rather than 3 because Patricia Veryan is a big favorite of mine, and I did enjoy this book, overall. But does anyone else wish that Veryan would return to her previous technique, which was to place more emphasis on romance, and less on mystery? This book is certainly worth reading; Veryan has not written a bad one yet. However, since the story is told almost entirely from the perspective of the male lead, Hastings Adair, the reader is distanced from the love interest, Cecily Hall. I personally did not feel like I knew this young woman when I had finished the book. I knew and liked Adair, but something is lacking when the romance seems so underdeveloped. WHY did Adair fall in love with Cecily? What was she thinking? We are never told, or shown. I put the book down feeling like I didn't care what happened to her.

Enough with the criticism. As already stated, I do recommend this book. It displays Veryan's usual light touch, and features interesting supporting characters. There are several surprises, lots of mystery, and some good dialogue. I just wish more of Cecily's story had been told. THEN, you might have seen a five-star review.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, January 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Riddle of the Reluctant Rake (Hardcover)

I agree! This is by far the best in the series to date. Adair was a great hero, and as for Paige and Toby, the sooner they get their own books the better - wonderful characters.

I would recommend that if you wish to read the series that you do so in order. This book contains major spoilers to the previous two books (The Riddle of Alabaster Royal and The Riddle of the Lost Lover).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting And Unusual Story, January 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Riddle of the Reluctant Rake (Hardcover)

I am a huge fan of Patricia Veryan's, and love to read her books. However, I have been disappointed with the entire "Riddle" series. Although she still excells at writing descriptions of places and people that are vivid, there is something missing. The reader does not get to know the characters well: what they are feeling, their motivations, the reason they do the things they do. There is also less of the romance and humorous episodoes that made her older books so charming. Still, any book by Patricia Veryan is better written than by many other authors, and I would recommend her books to anybody. I just hope she writes another book like "The Mandarin of Mayfair".