THE TROUBLE WITH MOONLIGHT

Author: Donna MacMeans ISBN: 9780425221983 6/2008 HISTORICAL Publisher: BERKLEY SENSATON
Time Period: Victorian 1877 London

British spy James Locke has seen some odd events—but nothing quite as fantastical as when, in the midst of a moonlit safecracking mission, he witnesses a ruby necklace being spirited away as if by a conjurer's trick. Following the jewels leads him to Lusinda Havershaw, who's inherited the ability to become invisible in the moonlight—at least, the parts of her that are unclothed. To support her sisters, Lusinda slips naked through the London night to recover lost or stolen items. After enlisting her reluctant services for the crown, Locke trains Lusinda in espionage—though her close proximity is bewitchingly distracting. And as their mission to track Russian spies grows treacherous, they'll find that the heart behaves even more mysteriously than Lusinda in the moonlight...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Donna MacMeans' first book, THE EDUCATION OF MRS. BRIMLEY, was an engaging, warm-hearted, funny historical, and it was on the strength of that novel that I eagerly awaited THE TROUBLE WITH MOONLIGHT. Unfortunately, I ultimately found myself underwhelmed by this story. Certain aspects I enjoyed, such as whenever Lucinda phased into invisibility and roamed undetected among the ton. Certain aspects I did not enjoy, however, such as how James was always willing to think the worst of Lucinda, when she gave him no reason to do so. I find that quality in a hero very off-putting, and because of that one trait, I found it a chore to continue reading when all I really wanted to do was yell at James for being so pig-headed.

Though the book is categorized as a historical, it probably could also have been categorized as paranormal as well. Lucinda turns invisible in the moonlight, and her different phases of invisibility (ranging from normal to ghost-like to fully invisible) are linked to the phases of the moon. While I appreciated the novelty of invisibility as a plot device, there were also things about her invisibility that I questioned. In particular, Lucinda often laments the fact that she can't go out to evening soirees for fear of turning invisible, but Lucinda also must soak up the moonbeams in order to go on various missions for James, even when the moon is at its fullest.

Overall, I think I would have enjoyed THE TROUBLE WITH MOONLIGHT more had I not read THE EDUCATION OF MRS. BRIMLEY first. Had this been my first introduction to Ms. MacMeans' work, I probably would have enjoyed it well enough, but may not have sought out her other works. Instead, I liked THE EDUCATION OF MRS. BRIMLEY so much, that this just didn't rise to the level that I had come to expect.

Jilian Vallade