Slightly Shady (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There's something Slightly Shady about Lavinia Lake. First of all, no decent woman would go into trade, even when an unscrupulous employer leaves her stranded abroad with her young niece. But the capable Lavinia has landed on her feet, peddling dubious reproductions of ancient artifacts in Rome to earn passage home. When a madman ransacks her shop, accusing her of aiding and abetting a murderous gang of thieves, Lavinia and her niece Emeline return to London, where Lavinia once more takes lemons and makes lemonade, becoming a private investigator. In the course of her first discreet inquiry for a wealthy aristocrat with secrets to hide, Lavinia runs into her madman once more, standing over the recently deceased body of a blackmailer. Not exactly your usual beginning for a relationship, but Mr. Tobias March is hardly an ordinary man. In fact, he's quite extraordinary, Lavinia very reluctantly admits to herself. When threats to Lavinia's safety force her into an unlikely partnership with the mysterious Mr. March, the fur--and a petticoat or two--flies. A heady combination of passion and the shared thrill of the hunt for a depraved murderer may lead Lavinia and Tobias to form a partnership of a more permanent kind. Lively suspense with a healthy dose of passion, Amanda Quick's Slightly Shady is truly addictive storytelling. --Alison Trinkle --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Spirited heroines and sardonic heroes populate this sexy Regency-era thriller by the ever reliable Quick, alter ego of Jayne Ann Krentz. This time out, Quick offers the parry and thrust of danger and romance, as embodied in resourceful Lavinia Lake and roguish Tobias March. Lavinia first encounters Tobias when he bursts into her antiques shop in Rome, trashing her wares, all the while claiming to be on the trail of a murderer and warning Lavinia that she is in danger. There's also talk of treason, a criminal organization known as the Blue Chamber and an evil mastermind named Azure. Despite her skepticism, Lavinia returns with her niece, Emeline, to London, where she is caught up in more intrigue. She sets herself up as a private detective and even though stubbornness on both sides leads to an oil-and-water pairing, she soon finds herself in business with Tobias, attempting to foil a blackmail scheme, locate the culprit in a series of murders and identify the surviving member of Azure's organization. Arch humor and the expert removal of bodices are Quick's stock in trade, and the old formula still works splendidly. As usual, the novel's outcome is visible a mile off, but familiarity, after all, is golden in literary franchise land. Major ad/promo. (Apr. 10)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (March 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553583360
• ISBN-13: 978-0553583366
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #460,774 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Lavinia Lake & Tobias March Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slightly....Disappointing, April 5, 2001

By	"celia-aromancereviewer" (Lexington, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slightly Shady (Hardcover)

As a devout Amanda Quick fan, I was excited to get hold of her latest novel. But I must confess that it was not as vintage a Quick book as I had hoped. The relationship between Lavinia and Tobias lacked the sparkle and passion of her earlier lovers and the denoument lacked closure. I agree with other reviewers that her Regencies of late have become plot driven - I miss the sigh-appeal of earlier heroes and the delightful eccentricities of previous heroines. It was almost as if Jayne owed her contract a book at this time - although well thought-out and crafted as always, the sparkle wasn't there. I would not recommend this as a starter Quick book to anybody - "With this Ring" or "Mistress" would top my list of passion at its best. I shall continue to buy anything by Amanda Quick but with lower expectations. She still writes a great book when compared to some other authors on the market.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A slight disappointment, April 4, 2001

By	Tanya V. "Bookwyrm" (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slightly Shady (Hardcover)

In her last few books, Krentz (Quick) has been moving away from character and relationship development and into a more plot-driven type of story. While I think it worked well in "Wicked Widow" and "Lost and Found," I found myself disappointed with "Slightly Shady."

The characters squabbled constantly, and it was difficult to see why they'd have any attraction at all for one another. There was little character or relationship development. While the squabbling was occasionally humorous, it made it difficult for me to believe the attraction between them.

The "mystery" was indeed interesting, although it tied together a number of coincidences that I viewed with a little disbelief.

All in all, it wasn't quite what I wanted in a Quick book. On the other hand, it was entertaining, and I read through it fairly quickly. It simply wasn't up to the standard of "With This Ring" and "I Thee Wed," which I believe are the best of Quick.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A suprising lack of character development., April 5, 2001

By	Barbara A. Williams "barbinsos" (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Slightly Shady (Hardcover)

As a faithful reader of Amanda Quick, I eagerly went to my nearest bookstore to purchase her latest novel Slightly Shady. I curled up on the sofa and prepared to indulge myself in an evening of uninterrupted reading. I finished this book in one night but glanced back through it the next day to see if perhaps I missed something. I did not. The characters in this novel, Mrs. Lake and Tobias March are the most poorly developed of any Quick novel. There is very little physical description of either character - certainly not enough of the male character to make one swoon over. Additionally, unlike earlier novels which allowed the reader to develop an understanding of the inner workings of the characters - the reasons why they are angry, or frightened, or wary of relationships, this novel shows us little of that psychological depth. These are not characters who are "passionate" in any sense of the word. They engage in much verbal banter but they do not burn for each other. It is a pity; for the verbal banter is good and the characters do have potential to be great characters. I was left with the overwhelming sense that Amanda Quick spent much more time writing and researching her earlier novels and is now resting on her laurels. I will not be so "quick" to buy her next book.