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Captain Lacey #4.6
The Gentleman's Walking Stick
London, 1817
An anthology of two short stories of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries.
In The Gentleman's Walking Stick, Lacey untangles a web of deceit involving a respectable society man, his only clue being a missing walking stick. (This story first appeared in the Regency fiction magazine, The Reticule in 2000.)
In The Disappearance of Miss Sarah Oswald, Lacey is asked to locate a man's missing daughter, though he senses that the family will be just as happy for her to remain missing.
The Disappearance of Miss Sarah Oswald was nominated for a Derringer Award for best short mystery in the year 2000. The story first appeared in Over My Dead Body! Mystery Magazine in Summer, 2000.
The first story runs 6000 words; the second, 5000 words. While these are standalone stories, the events fall in the series timeline anytime after The Sudbury School Murders.
An anthology of two short stories of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries.
In The Gentleman's Walking Stick, Lacey untangles a web of deceit involving a respectable society man, his only clue being a missing walking stick. (This story first appeared in the Regency fiction magazine, The Reticule in 2000.)
In The Disappearance of Miss Sarah Oswald, Lacey is asked to locate a man's missing daughter, though he senses that the family will be just as happy for her to remain missing.
The Disappearance of Miss Sarah Oswald was nominated for a Derringer Award for best short mystery in the year 2000. The story first appeared in Over My Dead Body! Mystery Magazine in Summer, 2000.
The first story runs 6000 words; the second, 5000 words. While these are standalone stories, the events fall in the series timeline anytime after The Sudbury School Murders.
42 pages, Nook
First published September 9, 2011
97 people are currently reading
431 people want to read
About the author
Ashley Gardner
52 books678 followersAshley Gardner is the pseudonym for NY Times bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Ashley and nationally bestselling and award-winning author Allyson James. Her award-winning Captain Lacey Regency mysteries have garnered top reviews and an enthusiastic following. These books are now available as digital editions. More about the series can be found at http://www.gardnermysteries.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
June 24, 2020
In this short collection, Captain Lacey solves two mysteries. One involving a sneaky man and a walking stick, the other involves a missing girl, whose family appears to not want her found.
January 18, 2016
I got this ebook for a great price and was even happier that it was actually two books for the price of one. The first one, The Gentleman's Walking Stick is where an old friend of Captain Laceys asked for his help in recovering a walking stick of his. He evidently left it in a sensitive place. Once Captain Lacey discovers the truth... Then the other was about a girl's dissappearance and was a sad one. I wish on that one the ending could have been drawn out more. I can't say much as these were just short stories, but worked to wet my appetite for more Captain Lacey and am eager to get started on reading A Death In Norfolk, the next full length CL.
January 2, 2016
Wow, what a major disappointment. Both of these stories were far too short for my tastes. I have them shelved with the hors'doeuvers and snack sized reads but these two stories are more like crumbs. I bought them to read last night at bed-time because I'm waiting on a book to come into the library and thought they would be perfect for my purposes. I only paid 99 cents but somehow still feel ripped off.
December 31, 2025
The Gentleman's Walking Stick by Ashley Gardner is book #4.6 in the Captain Lacey mystery series set in Regency London. Captain Lacey is asked by a fellow former military officer to retrieve his walking stick. Summerville is engaged to be married into high-society, and does not want his fiancée or in-laws-to-be to find out where he was the previous night. Being a good-hearted soul, Captain Lacey understands the need for discretion and agrees to help out. He spends the day visiting various unsavory locations Summerville had been the day before, getting soaked in the rain and beat up for his trouble. Then he intuits where the walking stick must be, and retrieves it. What he chooses to do next is a delightful surprise.
February 20, 2022
None of these three short stories seemed very interesting or special to me. I don't necessarily regret reading them, but I also could have easily skipped reading them and not been worse for it.
October 9, 2022
We don’t even get an ending? Argh.
Also, Lady Breckinridge is “my lady love???”
Also, Lady Breckinridge is “my lady love???”
January 8, 2015
Two Short Stories
This is a collection of two short stories from the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries.
THE GENTLEMAN'S WALKING STICK: This is a short story about a man who comes to Lacey to ask him to help find his missing walking stick. This was the more interesting story to me because there were actually things that could be figured out from the story. It is very short and the mystery is not deep but it gives readers a small sense of the full length novels.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MISS SARAH OSWALD: A man comes to Lacey to help him find a woman missing for eight months. This story was interesting because of the characters involved. We also get a chance to see Lacey exercising his vigilante justice which has been missing since the early novels.
Both of these stories are short and don't have much character development. They are a nice snack for fans of the series.
Rating: 4 stars.
This is a collection of two short stories from the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries.
THE GENTLEMAN'S WALKING STICK: This is a short story about a man who comes to Lacey to ask him to help find his missing walking stick. This was the more interesting story to me because there were actually things that could be figured out from the story. It is very short and the mystery is not deep but it gives readers a small sense of the full length novels.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MISS SARAH OSWALD: A man comes to Lacey to help him find a woman missing for eight months. This story was interesting because of the characters involved. We also get a chance to see Lacey exercising his vigilante justice which has been missing since the early novels.
Both of these stories are short and don't have much character development. They are a nice snack for fans of the series.
Rating: 4 stars.
March 18, 2016
An ex-army comrade asks Lacey to find his walking stick which he had mislaid the previous evening - losing it would cause problems with his fiancée and more importantly her father.
A short story.
A short story.
Read
May 16, 2021contains TWO short stories.
the gentleman's walking stick - captain lacey is asked to track down a gentlemans misplaced walking stick. the blackmail ending surprised me.
the disappearance of miss sarah oswald - lacey is asked to find a family's missing daughter, though they dont really seem to want her found.
"i did not think sarah's family wanted her back. they were upright, middle class people who would view shame as a fate worse than death - best to sweep it far away and out of sight."
the gentleman's walking stick - captain lacey is asked to track down a gentlemans misplaced walking stick. the blackmail ending surprised me.
the disappearance of miss sarah oswald - lacey is asked to find a family's missing daughter, though they dont really seem to want her found.
"i did not think sarah's family wanted her back. they were upright, middle class people who would view shame as a fate worse than death - best to sweep it far away and out of sight."
June 20, 2022
An old officer friend asks Lacey to track down his walking stick. Of course, being Lacey he comes to regret it.
AND a second story: The Disappearance of Miss Sarah Oswald (Captain Lacey, #4.7)
Interestingly, the author says this is the first thing she wrote for the main character, and I find it intriguing how well defined his moral core is in the earliest of his stories.
That’s why I love him. Damn the consequences, he will always do what is right.
4 stars
AND a second story: The Disappearance of Miss Sarah Oswald (Captain Lacey, #4.7)
Interestingly, the author says this is the first thing she wrote for the main character, and I find it intriguing how well defined his moral core is in the earliest of his stories.
That’s why I love him. Damn the consequences, he will always do what is right.
4 stars
April 13, 2018
Fun with Captain Lacey
If you enjoy Captain Lacey's adventures in Regency England, then you won't want to miss these two short stories that highlight two more of his adventures. Although neither story adds anything to the series as a whole, these two vignettes give a deeper glimpse into Captain Lacey 's character and complicated morals.
If you enjoy Captain Lacey's adventures in Regency England, then you won't want to miss these two short stories that highlight two more of his adventures. Although neither story adds anything to the series as a whole, these two vignettes give a deeper glimpse into Captain Lacey 's character and complicated morals.
May 20, 2018
Well, I'm a fan for anything Captain Lacey and these were delightful short stories, their only fault being they are too short. You get a chance to see Captain Lacey before he acquired a lot of back story, since these were the earliest stories Ashley Gardner wrote, and they are both thoroughly engaging. It's fun to see how a beloved character got his start in a writer's imagination.
September 26, 2024
The two mysteries in these novellas were hardly mysteries, more like short quests (if that makes sense). They read well and I understand that, having been previously published as short stories, they're necessarily simple. However, I think I'm spoilt by the other excellent Captain Lacey's books and I had (probably too) high expectations.
April 29, 2018
This is actually two short stories. They were alright but could have done without
June 3, 2018
This was a kindle edition that included the other short stories. Not quite as good as the full length novels.
September 3, 2018
Two short stories
These go along with the Captain Lacey mysteries. A very enjoyable series. I just need MORE money so I can buy more of her books!
These go along with the Captain Lacey mysteries. A very enjoyable series. I just need MORE money so I can buy more of her books!
October 2, 2018
Captain Lacey stories are a nice confection of regency history, social mores, and an upstanding if flawed and well worn hero.
March 22, 2019
Short but poignant.
Nice to know where the ankle chain came from. I am glad to only visit Recency England through books with Captain Lacey to protect me.
Nice to know where the ankle chain came from. I am glad to only visit Recency England through books with Captain Lacey to protect me.
December 7, 2019
As part of Volume 1
February 14, 2022
Fun simple mystery, I generally enjoy these, the setting and figuring out the murderer.
June 2, 2016
-Two short stories which introduce the character of Captain Lacey. Each is a mystery and because they are short stories, the solutions are quickly found.
-The first story, which is that of the title of book, shows how Captain Lacey catches things that others may not. A former Sargent under his command searches him out. This former Sargent was told through Lacey's friend, Grenville, that Lacey is good at finding things and he asks for Lacey's help. The Sargent is engaged to be married to a woman from a wealthy family and, in order to avoid revealing certain indiscretions on the Sargent's part, the Sargent asks Lacey to locate his walking stick which he left in one of several places. He doesn't want it revealed, if the walking stick shows up in one of those places, that he had visited a place he should not have.
-Lacey agrees, but only because of their past relationship, and the former Sargent provides Lacey with a list of several possible places where the walking stick may have been left.
-As Lacey goes to each place, he finds more distasteful things about the former soldier so that, when he finally does locate the walking stick, Lacey's character as a doer of good, and righter of wrongs comes to the fore, and he teaches the Sargent a well deserved lesson.
-There is a second story, which is actually the first Captain Lacey story written by the author. It is his search for the daughter of an acquaintance of his, and it reveals the mindset of those in certain social positions, where they would abandon a young girl from their family if it appears she has taken a wrong turn. Shame, because of a possible marring of their family name, can result in tremendous cruelty. How he determines the young girl's location and, when he finds that she had been severely beaten, how he finds the perpetrator, shows his dogged persistence, and his ability to interpret the clues that are left in the girl's wake.
-A good start to an excellent series.
-The first story, which is that of the title of book, shows how Captain Lacey catches things that others may not. A former Sargent under his command searches him out. This former Sargent was told through Lacey's friend, Grenville, that Lacey is good at finding things and he asks for Lacey's help. The Sargent is engaged to be married to a woman from a wealthy family and, in order to avoid revealing certain indiscretions on the Sargent's part, the Sargent asks Lacey to locate his walking stick which he left in one of several places. He doesn't want it revealed, if the walking stick shows up in one of those places, that he had visited a place he should not have.
-Lacey agrees, but only because of their past relationship, and the former Sargent provides Lacey with a list of several possible places where the walking stick may have been left.
-As Lacey goes to each place, he finds more distasteful things about the former soldier so that, when he finally does locate the walking stick, Lacey's character as a doer of good, and righter of wrongs comes to the fore, and he teaches the Sargent a well deserved lesson.
-There is a second story, which is actually the first Captain Lacey story written by the author. It is his search for the daughter of an acquaintance of his, and it reveals the mindset of those in certain social positions, where they would abandon a young girl from their family if it appears she has taken a wrong turn. Shame, because of a possible marring of their family name, can result in tremendous cruelty. How he determines the young girl's location and, when he finds that she had been severely beaten, how he finds the perpetrator, shows his dogged persistence, and his ability to interpret the clues that are left in the girl's wake.
-A good start to an excellent series.
September 13, 2011
Two very short stories featuring Captain Gabriel Lacey.
Story 1: An old military acquaintance of Lacey's asks his help to retrieve a walking stick he's left behind in one of the places he visited the previous day. The walking stick has the man's name engraved on it, and some of the places he'd been may prove embarrassing. I liked that Lacey visited the places in reverse order, and in doing so gained a specific knowledge of the man and the people whose lives he affected. And I particularly enjoyed the ending and Lacey once again taking care of the unfortunate and downtrodden.
Story 2: The father of a young girl who arrived in London and subsequently disappeared asks Lacey to find her. The girl's aunt and brother both believe her to have "fallen" and believe she's better off not found, due to the risk of bringing ruin to the upstanding family. Although the investigation itself is very good, the outcome and resolution is vague and unsatisfying.
Story 1: An old military acquaintance of Lacey's asks his help to retrieve a walking stick he's left behind in one of the places he visited the previous day. The walking stick has the man's name engraved on it, and some of the places he'd been may prove embarrassing. I liked that Lacey visited the places in reverse order, and in doing so gained a specific knowledge of the man and the people whose lives he affected. And I particularly enjoyed the ending and Lacey once again taking care of the unfortunate and downtrodden.
Story 2: The father of a young girl who arrived in London and subsequently disappeared asks Lacey to find her. The girl's aunt and brother both believe her to have "fallen" and believe she's better off not found, due to the risk of bringing ruin to the upstanding family. Although the investigation itself is very good, the outcome and resolution is vague and unsatisfying.
October 18, 2012
I'm not really big on short stories or novellas but I enjoy this series enough that I want to read everything on it. The ending of the first story I felt was a little out of character for Lacey -
September 2, 2012
Two short stories covering some events occuring between installments 6 and 7 in the Captain Lacey series. These are quick and lack much depth. Both cases involve Lacey discovering a complexity that makes him reassess the original aid requester's call for his help in a new light. We are reminded of the limited options and opportunities for women across a range of social classes in early 19th century England, and in what comes across to me as a rather anachronistic perspective on Lacey's part, the need for greater LGBT awareness and sensitivity in our current society.
June 19, 2016
Lacey bumps into an old acquaintance who asks him to help him track down and retrieve his walking stick, which he suspects he left in one of many places he visited the night before that might prove awkward if his fiancée or her parents found out what he's been up to. An entertaining enough short story, though I didn't enjoy it as much as the full length novels or the second story to be found in this collection, which I've reviewed separately.
April 14, 2016
Review written April 14, 2016
★★★☆☆ #4.6-The Gentleman's Walking Stick
See my review for the novella audiobook box The Necklace Affair and Other Stories
★★★☆☆ #4.6-The Gentleman's Walking Stick
See my review for the novella audiobook box The Necklace Affair and Other Stories
October 16, 2013
I've now read THE HANOVER SQUARE AFFAIR, A REGIMENTAL MURDER, THE GLASS HOUSE, and the short stories in THE GENTLEMAN'S WALKING STICK. I need to get the rest of this series. Very different, but very interesting!
April 23, 2015
early versions of her wonderful characters, great grasp of the 1800s, solid plot, well written, and moderately well edited (some blatant bloopers like he'd had and blue eyes that eyes sparkled). not quite as fleshed-out and wonderful, but still worth reading!
February 1, 2017
Captain Lacey at his best
The author's full novels are very good. It is good to find that she writes short stories equally as well. Complete mystery stories with Lacey's justice as well. LOVED THEM BOTH.
The author's full novels are very good. It is good to find that she writes short stories equally as well. Complete mystery stories with Lacey's justice as well. LOVED THEM BOTH.
September 23, 2011
The short stories are good, but almost too brief.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews