Touchstone by Laurie R. King

I am a huge Laurie R. King fan, so I was excited to find this at the library when I was browsing the shelves. Somehow I missed it when it was published last year. This is not part of her two series--Mary Russell historical mysteries or the modern Kate Martinelli ones. Whatever she writes has a historical aspect to it, and this novel is no exception.

Set in the 20s, the main character is an American FBI agent who comes to Britain to try to find proof that a rising Labour politican and strike organizer is responsible for three bombs set off in the U.S. He has a personal motive as well--his beloved younger brother was severely injured in one of the explosions. In Britain, Harris Stuyvesant becomes involved with a strange bunch--there's Carstairs, the slippery powerbroker who seems to be playing his own games; Bunsen, the main suspect, a powerful orator and his lover Lady Laura Hurleigh, a member of one of the oldest families in England; Bennett Gray, whose war injuries have given him an usual ability--he can tell just by being in the room with someone if they are telling the truth--and Bennett's younger sister Sarah, whom Harris finds extremely attractive. Somewhere in this stew is the likelihood of a bomb, a plot to discredit the Labour party, a possible general strike, and the machinations of a man who models himself on Machiavelli.

King's descriptions of England are lovely and she seems to catch the flavour of the times, with many in England rethinking the rigid class structure that the war has called into question. I never thought of England having a 'revolution of its own,' as Harris puts it, and modelling itself on the U.S. However, for all its strengths, I have to say that this is not at the top of my list of King books to recommend. It doesn't appear to be the start of a new series, although Harris Stuyvesant is an interesting character. If you haven't read anything by her, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, is the first in her Sherlock Holmes series. And make sure you start reading the Kate Martinelli series from the first one as well. The relationships in her series develop in interesting ways, and you wouldn't want to read them out of order.