The Vanishing Thief

Victorian Bookshop Mystery #1

by Kate Parker

1800s London. At 30, bookshop owner Georgia Fenchurch knows she’s considered a middle-class old maid. To rescue people and see justice done, she works with the Archivist Society, too busy to be lonely.

When a respectable middle-class woman comes into her bookshop complaining that handsome Duke of Blackford has abducted her next door neighbor, Georgia is embroiled in theft, blackmail, lies, secret marriages, and murder. Drake may be royalty, may be dead, and is definitely missing. Georgia also sees a man she has wanted to capture for a dozen years, he killed her parents.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Historical Mystery, Historical, Cozy, Victorian

296 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

Kate began reading Agatha Christie mysteries and the Nancy Drew books while her classmates were reading Dick and Jane. She particularly likes historical mysteries and the feeling of time travel a good historical book can give the reader. Combined with her love of late Victorian to World War II architecture and fashions, she found an outlet for the stories and characters that fill her head by writing The Victorian Bookshop Mysteries, The Milliner Mysteries, and The Deadly series, as well as taking part in the Christmas Revels anthologies.

So far, Kate has put out four free short stories, The Missing Brooch (Victorian Bookshop Mystery), Emily's First Case (Milliner Mysteries), and The Missing Maps and A Christmas Mystery (Deadly Series), to her newsletter list. The Mystery at Chadwick House is a novella that is free for newsletter subscribers or can be purchased at retailers. Sign up at www.KateParkerbooks.com to get free copies.

Reviews

[Heidi (can’t retire soon enough) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a good start to a new mystery series featuring a secret society, badly behaving aristocrats and shrewd (but sometimes ridiculously naive) blue stockings.

Will check out the next entry in the series as I’d love to see if the books get better. Plus I might have a slight crush on one of the aristocrats who can’t help his gentlemanly leanings.

PS— plus it’s set in a book store!! 🥰

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at about 50%. I usually avoid rating DNFs, but in this case I feel confident enough by the halfway mark to know that my rating of 1.5 stars won't change. I also really hate DNFing books, but there's only so much torture you can take (and much dragging of feet) before you realize that if the book has been lying in the "must finish" pile for nearly a year, chances are pretty slim that you'll reach the end.

My problems with The Vanishing Thief are many:
1. All tell, no show. We are treated to paragraphs and paragraphs of rambling thoughts from our heroine, Georgia Fenchurch - the history of her secret investigative society, how horrible/dark/grim/life-changing her parents' murders were (repeatedly), how blessed with beauty her assistant Emma is... At one point Georgia's investigations at the end of one chapter were randomly followed by Georgia's recount of her friend Phyllida's entire tragic life story in the entire next chapter. Since I feel no real expression of emotion from any of these flat, flat characters, I'm left wondering whether there's any the point to these massive info dumps. We'd also be in the middle of angry conversations when the author would suddenly drop in a few sentences describing the characters' good looks and fashion. Huh?

2. Flat, flat characters, as mentioned above. For example, we're told all about Sir Broderick's past and his involvement in the murder of Georgia's parents, and yet I never got any feel for him as a character/person. He's just an empty shell who represents the head of the Archivist Society/father figure to Georgia - he appears to have no personality, no character. All the characters seem to speak the same way - Georgia's tone is indistinguishable from that of her aunt, Emma, Phyllida and so on. The only difference is that their names are different.

3. Our heroine, Georgia Fenchurch, is supposed to be an independent female private investigator and owner of a bookshop. Awesome, right? NOPE. Georgia doesn't appear to have two brain cells to rub together. Apparently, her idea of "investigating" is to force her way into a duke's home using her real name, demand answers to her extremely rude questions point blank and then swoon over her suspect's physical attributes. She also stupidly trusts the story her (highly suspicious) client gave her without verifying it, makes accusations of the peerage based on this misinformation and then feel betrayed and acts righteously outraged when she finally realizes she was handed lies. On top of this, Georgia's really inconsistently written - she's supposed to be tough (which translates to arguing constantly with the duke in the manner of a fishwife - great banter this is not), but then she'd just blush and stammer when the duke really does say something inappropriate.

3. There's very little to be excited about in the romance department when we've got the typical "bickering partners in investigation" relationship setup minus the spark and witty banter that actually makes that setup fun. Georgia and Lord Blackford swings back and forth between strange, stilted flirting and antagonistic accusations. The duke is also the typical alpha "tall, dark and handsome" type who floats around near the heroine, interfering and repeatedly saving her backside. Outside of these stereotypes and the background of his character (delivered via info dump, of course), there's little to set him apart from everyone else in this book.

4. Shocking attempt at period language or historical accuracy. At what kind of high society dinner event is it appropriate for a duke to ask an unmarried lady "Has a man ever made love to you" over the entrée?! And then you'd have characters saying things like "Back so soon? You must have hit a wall" or someone referring to their "pince-nez glasses." They're just called pince-nez. People occasionally hold entire conversations by "snapping" or "hissing" at each other - there are other ways to express anger, you know.

5. The mystery itself is chaotic. There's a lot of backstory about the murder of Georgia's parents, which is clearly meant to be the overarching mystery in the series, so that it takes a long time for this book's missing person case to be introduced. When the case finally kicks off in earnest, you'll find that you'll need a flowchart to keep all the side characters straight - there's plenty of A blackmailing C, D, E and F and G retaliating after dragging E into the plot... and so on. When the main characters are as shallow as Georgia and Lord Blackford are, it's not surprising that the side characters are mere names with no real meaning.

Some examples of WTF dialogue and stilted prose:

When she saw I was alone, she looked crestfallen, but she quickly recovered and said, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for Nicholas Drake."
"He's not here. You should be out searching for him. I repeat, why are you here?"
"While checking the public records, we found you've not been completely forthcoming with us."
"I've not?" All her bluster fled her and she shrank back from the door."

(That's not the way you greet someone at the door - that's an interrogation! Not to mention the grammatical errors that a good editor should have picked out - it should be "you haven't" and "I haven't," not "you've not" or "I've not.")


She paced quickly around the room, finally coming to rest behind a chair where she glared at me. "Don't look at me with that judgmental scowl."

"You learned about my time in prison for theft?"
I nodded.
"Thank you for not throwing it in my face."

(People talked like this in Victorian England?!)


I was tired of playing games. I raised my voice. If Nicholas Drake was in the house and had any feelings for his wife, he'd appear. "Don't give me that. He's your husband. You know where he is."
"No."
Louder. "You've always known where he was. Even when you were in prison."
She yelled back at me. "No. That's why I came to you. To the Archivist Society. I want him returned to me alive and well."
"I don't believe you. You know where he is." I was shouting now.

(And this is how our charming heroine, Georgia, conducts her investigations.)

If you're looking for a well-written historical cozy, there are definitely better choices out there.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first cozy mystery read:) It took awhile for to get into the book but once it picked up, I couldn't put it down.
Another bonus was the fact parts of it took place around a bookshop :)

The mystery was a good one and kept me guessing till the end... there is more to the mystery of Nicholas Drake than meets the eye and more danger than Georgia expected. She receives some help from the Duke of Blackford, though his motives and intentions aren't clear at first.

The pacing was steady, and didn't lag at all... I admired Georgia's determination and loyalty to the case and her friends. Her developing attraction to a certain someone was fun to watch as well :).

The other ploy of finding her parent's killer and the end part regarding this is very intriguing... can't wait to see where that goes next and who this person is.

Would recommend!

I love who Nidah thought fit the parts of Georgia and the Duke, second them:

Georgia Fenchurch: Hayley Atwell.
Duke of Blackford: Benedict Cumberbatch.



Emma for me:


and I may or may not ship Emma with a certain servant of someone in the story *shifty eyes*

[Natalia R · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 5 out of 5]

After just finishing this, if ever this gets to be a movie or mini series:
Georgia Fenchurch: Hayley Atwell.
Duke of Blackford: Benedict Cumberbatch.

At least that's who I imagined while reading.

This is what happens when you try to look for something new to read. and its a cozy mystery that not only I haven't heard of but it also has a bookshop setting. And what's this, historical fiction? Yes freaking please.

Anyway, this one was really, really good and love the cover. Enough fangirl mode. Onto the book.

Georgia Fenchurch owns a bookshop and along with her assistant Emma, both are part of the Archivist Society that solves cases. And looks they have just that concerning Nicholas Drake. The suspect in question, Duke of Blackford.

And from there, let's just say there's more to the case than the team thinks. All the while Georgia has been on the lookout for her parent's killer.

What I liked about this was that the pacing was well done and Georgia's determination. This cozy mystery is a perfect blend of mystery, interesting characters and writing that you can easily imagine yourself in the setting.

And of course we got to have some tension between the main character an a dashing maybe possible love interest perhaps? A cozy mystery I'm okay with.

I found myself finishing a chapter and wanting to keep reading. Not realizing the time flew by. To me, that means I found a very good read.

Anyway, I look forward to reading more from this series.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Vanishing Thief is my first by this author and I was initially thrilled to have discovered a Victorian mystery series with a female lead as a bookshop owner whose works with an Archivist society to investigate and solve crimes. The set-up is very nicely done, I felt transported to Victorian London and as a booklover, the backdrop of a bookshop that sells rare antiques book felt intriguing.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t all that intrigued with the bookshop owner and female protagonist, Miss Georgia Fenchurch. Georgia is very hard to warm up to. She has a backstory wherein her parents were murdered during a kidnapping, leaving her alone in the world at seventeen. Then a few years later her lover died, leaving her completely alone, bereft, and rooted in the past.

This is the reason I don’t like older heroines, they lack freshness. Older heroines, like Georgia, are usually defined by so many old, deep scars that make them brittle, suspicious, and rude. Instead of making discreet inquiries during her first case, Georgia is every bit of a bully, extortionist and blackmailer as the villain, Nicholas Drake. She just barged into people’s homes and threatened to “haunt” badger, and wring every bit of personal gossip or scandal from them to get her way. Georgia was rather irritating with her prickly and combative manner. Instead of intuitive investigating skills and adroit inquiry, Georgia threatened and demanded that people spill all their personal business because she has a right to pry into their lives, no matter how many wounds she rips open.

What kept m reading where the marvelous secondary characters, especially Lord Blackford. Though he was the typical brooding duke, I liked that Lord Blackford wasn’t blindly handsome but describe as having craggy features, but powerfully attractive and commanding. He was such a commanding hero that I want to read more about his character.

I also loved Georgia’s friend and bookshop helper Emma, her character has and is constantly evolving from former street urchin and thief to trusted member of the Archivist Society. When Emma unflinchingly greeted the horribly disfigured Sumner (hired by the duke to protect Georgia) with a smile, when Georgia stepped back in horror, young Emma proved to be the more honorable of the two women. Phyllida, a lady with a tragic past whom Georgia rescued, was such a sweet-natured soul. Lady Westover was fun and of eccentric, I loved scenes with her.

The backstory of the murder of Georgia’s parents will likely be stretched out over several stories and a reason for the duke to remain in contact with Georgia, as he promised to make inquiries on the finding the identity of the murderer.

While this is not the best historical (or realistic) mystery I’ve ever read, it was a decent cozy mystery read and I enjoyed the Victorian setting and the secondary characters enough to want to read the next book in the series.

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a frantic woman comes to Georgia claiming that her neighbor, Nicholas Drake, has been abducted by the notorious Duke of Blackford, Georgia and the Archivist Society agree to take the case. But Drake is no innocent—he is a thief who has been blackmailing many of the leading members of London society. To find Drake and discover who is behind his abduction, Georgia and her beautiful assistant, Emma, will have to leave the cozy confines of their bookshop and infiltrate the inner circles of the upper crust—with the help of the dashing but dubious Duke of Blackford himself.

But the missing thief and his abductor are not the only ones to elude Georgia Fenchurch. When she spies the man who killed her parents years ago, she vows to bring him to justice once and for all…at any cost.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

There is a lot happening in this debut. A man is missing, a cold case (the murder of our protag’s parents) is brought to the forefront when the killer may have been spotted out and about in London and a death of a young woman is being questioned.

There are also a slew of characters from Georgia Fenchurch, to her employee and best friend Emma, Phyllida, their “aunt”, who all live together. The members of the Archivist Society including Sir Broderick, Lady Westover and her grandson Inspector Grantham. Add to that Drake, the missing man, the frantic woman searching for him and all the members of the upper crust who could be responsible for his disappearance including the Duke of Blackford. There are many more supporting characters too.

At first all of this was a little hard to follow but then the story hits a rhythm where all 3 stories and all the characters come together.

I really like several characters. The dialogue at a formal dinner party between Georgia and her table mates was quite humorous. The Duke and Georgia are quite suitable despite of their different classes. Seeing her rub shoulders with the Lords and Ladies shows she is very intelligent and resourceful and not just a woman who inherited a bookshop.

The story has more than the expected number of twists and turns for a book of this type, keeping the reader on their toes.

I enjoyed this trip back to Victorian times. A time before phones, cars, and many things we take for granted. When a trip to the country took days and to call the authorities you had to send a person with a message or find a bobbie on the street.

This is my first Kate Parker novel but according to her website she started out writing Romantic Suspense. She has made a fine transition to cozy mysteries by combining all her strengths – history, suspense, humor and romance. The Vanishing Thief is a nice blend of all four. I anxiously await the next Victorian Bookshop Mystery.

[L Y N N · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost gave this 4 stars. I liked it. In some spots it rather reminded me of King’s Mary Russell series, but in many others I felt like I was reading a pure romance novel. I would read the second in the series just to see if it improved upon this first book, and then determine whether I wanted to read further. So while I wasn’t wild about it, neither was I put-off by it. I felt the mystery was well done—intricate and intriguing. I was left guessing most of the time.

[Clemmie Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blackmailer

From the beginning this turned into an interesting mystery. Intriguing characters & society. Can't wait to read the next series.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vanishing Thief was an interesting read, I think had it been set in modern times it would have been less interesting. Georgia Fenchurch runs an antiquarian bookstore and also works as a detective for the Archivist Society, a secret association in Victorian London. Her cover is almost blown when a woman frantically runs into her shop and claims her neighbor was kidnapped.

The woman's tale on who the kidnapper is and how she know this information makes things interesting enough for Georgia to take it before the Archivist Society. Soon they are embroiled in trying to prove or disprove that the man was kidnapped by a Duke. The story has twists and turns and involves others form the gentry class and all seem to have a reason to have wanted to kidnap the man. Thrown in is the day Georgia is sure she saw the man who murdered her parents several years ago and she vows to find him as well as solve the present mystery.

The book shows the great contrast between the gentry, a store owner and other classes in Victorian London no matter what financial state anyone may be in and is a good cross-section of life at the time. The story ending is a surprise, even thought you begin to get a hint of things. It is not quite what you expect.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about THE VANISHING THIEF. The Victorian setting and main character were the highlights of the story. Bookish Georgia Fenchurch was a delightful heroine, and I was a bit envious of her bookshop. The budding romance between Georgia and the brooding Duke of Blackford was fun to read about. They’re both in denial at this point, but there’s some unmistakable romantic tension between them.

They missing man mystery itself was kind of chaotic. There were a slew of characters in the story – too many for me to keep track of. The duke of this, the duke of that, wives of, sisters of, children of, etc. and everyone had a back story/story line to keep track of. I would have liked a tighter plot with less characters to juggle. I did enjoy the secondary mystery though. Georgia’s parents were murdered a decade earlier, and she’s renewing her efforts to find the killer. Their murder had something to do with a missing rare book, but she’s still piecing together the details. I’ll probably pick up the second book to see how it plays out.

[Lia Marcoux · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a pile of nothing. Not even a steaming pile - an inert pile. Characters fail to ask astonishingly obvious questions for decades of pages (such as, "If another person came into the room and murdered your wife, what do they look like?"). Every system and plot point is contrived to loop in the unnecessary title character (why pass messages by putting one in a hat box and then hiring someone to steal it? Hatboxes are so big! Thefts of hatboxes are so visible! It's just - it's so - it's stupid!). We hear a lot about how the duke smells but I don't remember anything about his personality. Also, how is this a world where blueprints, ON PAPER, MIND YOU, must occupy a certain (large) amount of space? Cut the pages! Fold the pages! Separate them and mail them to your pen pal individually! Leaving aside the use of modern language and the tie-ins to other books that I haven't read and which may not even exist, who can tell, I am certainly not going to check, this was a Poor Book.

[Terken · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking for a mystery series that I can read to ease my mind after a long day. What I found instead, is a cheesy Jane Eyre with a mystery case on the background. There was even a Cinderella moment.
The characters are not introduced to the reader, they fall out of the sky. There are paragraphs and paragraphs of “feelings”, pointless conversations, flashback after flashback. It felt like all the characters were acting, fake. Their language was off, behaviors were off.
Apparently, adventures of Miss Fenchurch continues -and maybe the writing gets better?- but I’m not going to read them.

[Nancy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this exciting new series set in Victorian London, Georgia Fenchurch, seemingly a quiet bookseller, is part of a secret society called the Archivist Society. This group of friends works undercover to right wrongs, solve mysteries, and in their small ways, make their world a better place. There is a great mystery to be solved in this story, a possible abduction, probably murders, and a great deal of intrigue. This is definitely a series to watch for those who like British cozies.

[Lorraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book dragged continuously. To be honest I stopped reading around page 188. The book goes to page 296. I kept putting the book down for days and the tried reading it again. It got more repetitive and continued to be boring. It felt as though there was nothing to get a grip on. To be fair, I am going to attempt to read #2 in the series, The Counterfeit Lady.

[R · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time or money. Where was an editor? There's a glaring narrative error almost immediately in the few pages and absolutely none of it makes sense at all. No historical accuracy either. Reluctantly giving it one star because I have to.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georgia Fenchurch owns a quiet little bookstore in Victorian London. She inherited it after watching her parents killed before her eye and she makes enough money to keep herself and two women she helped rescue from unpleasant circumstances. Oh...I forgot to mention...Georgia is also a member of the Archivist Society, a secret group of private investigators who look into matters that the police won't touch. She and Sir Broderick, once her father's partner and now the patron of the society, set up detective service to help bring about justice for others. In Georgia's case, it's her way of atoning for her (what she views as) her failure to save her parents and her responsibility for Sir Broderick's loss of mobility. When her parents were abducted, she ran to Sir Broderick for help. They attempted to rescue the Fenchurches from a burning building, but The roof collapsed and Sir Broderick was crippled by a falling beam.

Since then, Georgia has helped investigate cases that brought her shop assistant, Emma, and their honorary aunt Phyllida (formerly Lady Phyllida Monthalf) into her life. The ladies are settled in for a days' work in the bookshop, when a frantic woman by the name of Edith Carter comes to Georgia with a story of an abduction. She claims that the Duke of Blackford has kidnapped her next door neighbor and that blood was left behind in the man's house. But Nicholas Drake's servants deny the bloodstains (which have since been wiped up) and claim that Drake has gone to visit friends in Brighton. She tried going to the police, but they don't believe her and think she's just a meddling busybody. Georgia is a bit doubtful of portions of the woman's story--her vagueness about what she saw, for one thing--but she's sure the woman really cares for Drake and that something happened. But after asking questions of Blackford and his servants, she's not convinced he's responsible.

The Archivists decide to take up the case and they soon discover that Drake was not a blameless character himself. He's been accused of thievery and it looks like he's been blackmailing some very influential society members. The Duke of Blackford has tried to forbid investigation and says he'll handle things, but he's one of the blackmail victims, so it's certainly possible that he could have had Drake snatched. When Georgia and the Archivists refuse to give up the case, the Duke offers to help--but can he be trusted?

Meanwhile, Georgia has had a glimpse of her parents' killer and spends part of her time trying to track him down. She's vowed to bring him to justice, no matter what it costs her. The Duke offers to help her with that as well. Why is he being so helpful all of a sudden? There are several deaths along the way and it becomes even more difficult to discern who is doing what. The trails lead to blazing finale that's all too reminiscent of the fire that killed her parents and while the mystery revolving around Drake is finally cleared up, Georgia is left with even more questions about the man who killed her parents.

This was an interesting beginning to a new historical mystery series and I do like the Victorian period. Georgia is a fine character and the supporting cast (comprised of her household and the Archivist members) are also well-drawn. I do tire the trope of the clashing male/female characters who will, of course, wind up romantically involved--it hasn't happened yet, but the plot bears all the hallmarks (and I confess to peeking at the blurbs for future installments and, yep, it's gonna happen). Fortunately, the two characters involved are interesting enough that I think I can get over my tiredness.... ★★★ and 1/2 for a strong opening book.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically a cozy mystery set in Victorian England. Georgia and her band of book store detectives work with a retired police inspector to solve mysteries. Although this is the first book of the series, it relates multiple previous cases that the group has solved with the help of an aristocratic elderly lady and some cops on the metropolitan police force.

This case revolves around the report of a man being abducted by a duke, which leads to a twisted series of mistaken theories and the identity and actions of the man shows he wasn't a particularly good man. Also involved is an explosives expert making weapons for the army and an array of other aristocrats with secrets to hide.

Georgia has an old case in mind in which a mysterious figure is seeking a Gutenberg Bible for some mysterious reason, killed her parents and cripped her mentor and guide for the book shop detectives. Also she encounters a hunky, intoxicating older man with riches and power that clearly is setting up... well something in the future, clearly no marriage is going to happen.

The writing is entertaining enough, and despite not being the biggest fan of this kind of story I enjoyed myself. Georgia is spunky and determined if not particularly clever, and she's not a modern Strong Woman stereotype, but is much more a woman of her times, if a bit brash and bold.

The dialog is somewhat disappointing in that its not very true to the time period, and everyone has essentially the same voice; no differences in dialect, slang, or word choice. Several extremely obvious clues are overlooked by our investigators, others are pulled out of thin air but prove to be correct. The bad guy has the super power of being able to avoid capture by tough subjects and move about freely without being spotted.

[Dallass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable Victorian mystery

I stumbled across this while scrolling through my recommendations, and after reading the sample, I decided this was worth a go.

I loved the strong, intelligent female protagonist, and her friends (both in the Archivists Society as well as her family), as she struggles to investigate the disappearance of a missing man. Was it a kidnapping? Did he run away? Whatever it was, it has brought Georgia to the attention of the formidable Duke of Blackford.

It was paced like a cosy mystery, and the interactions between the characters, the fast paced plot, and the twists and turns in the hunt for the truth made this a joy to read.

Definitely going to continue with the series.

3.5 stars ⭐️

[Laura Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started out okay. The writing was adequate and the mystery interesting. However, far too much backstory slowed the pace and the budding romance between Georgia and the Duke of Blackford was written with about as much subtlety as an anvil dropping on one's head. In fact, by the halfway point, it felt as if I were reading a bad romance novel as opposed to the mystery I was hoping for and I skimmed to the end. I won't be reading any further in this particular series though Ms. Parker possesses enough talent that I might be willing to take a chance on a different series. We'll see.

[Melmo2610 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting opener to a new to me series. I enjoyed the era and setting of this one. A historical cozy is always right up my alley. I liked there are a couple of mysteries in this one, one of which is solved in this story and one that is ongoing into more books of the series. The read was a little dry at times but overall, I liked it. I will work my way towards more of this series in the future.

[Linda Dobinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally enjoyed this story, lots of twists and turns, it kept me guessing until the end. Georgia Fenchurch is a likable heroine, and Blackford is a brooding hero - can't wait to see how they progress.
I was really impressed with the writers research and her use of language, it could have been written by a Victorian writer (ok, so I overlooked the American spelling).
I recommend this book.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finished this because I kept thinking it would get better. It never did. So disappointing. It's a Victorian bookshop mystery - the only way I could have been more excited is if it had been a Steampunk Victorian bookshop mystery. Boo.

[Grace Sanderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vanishing Thief by Kate Parker is a mystery novel centered around the investigation of a missing man in England during the Victorian era. The case has been brought to the Archivist Society, where a bookshop owner, named Georgia Fenchurch has been tasked with finding him. She has to sort through years of aristocratic secrets and lies to uncover the truth and find the missing man whether he deserves it or not. Georgia is a witty and very good at her job, but she has problems of her own. Her parents were murdered when she was young and she is still searching for their killer. If this were not enough she is also dealing with a suspicious duke who has plans of his own to find the missing man. Georgia herself doesn´t know whether he is using her or falling for her. The novel has endless outcomes that will keep you guessing until the very end. It has something for everyone, mystery, romance, history, and action. By seeing everything through the eyes of Georgia, you will feel as though you are solving the mystery too. The novel is a ten out of ten and any teen/adult ladies will enjoy it!

[Tina Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

2024/2025-I tried to read this a couple of times. I just didn’t care for it, it didn’t hold my attention. DNF

[Winterstar · Rating 2 out of 5]

If your looking for a bit of light entertainment then this book will work. If your looking for a heroine who is pushy, hypocritical, arrogant and a bit self-righteous, then step on up for a read. The title at least is apt and goes along with the overall plot of the book.

In the first chapter we meet Ms. Georgia Fenchurch, owner of a bookstore, survivor of an abduction and tragedy, and current member of the Archivist Society which does...well we're not sure yet, just that they take on 'cases' and are quite well known. Apparently they are supposed to be secretive, but as you'll find when you read, it seems everyone pretty much knows who they are and where their base of operations is.

Enter a poor lady who gives Georgia a sob story about a neighbor who's been abducted and she wants the Archivist Society to find him. Just how does Georgia go about doing this? Does she discreetly ask questions, ascertain any other information she can from her contacts, or follow up by seeing if the newspapers reported any suspicious activity? Bring in the members of the Archivist Society to assist? Well, no that's not her first course of action. Instead, she goes to confront the purported perpetrator of this very act, who just happens to be the Duke of Blackford.

Now, consider the class system at this point in history, how society functioned. Normally one wouldn't call on an aristocrat they hadn't been introduced to or had a mutual acquaintance or letter of recommendation etc. and considering Georgia is a member of the working class, well middle working class, her going unannounced to an aristocrat's home, much less a duke would have been bad manners at best. But okay, its a light read so we'll go with it. She wants to question suspect #1. So when she gets to his house and can't gain admittance, what does she do? She basically barges in and begins giving this aristocrat, this duke, the third degree. Pop goes the bubble for suspension of disbelief.

It's a wonder the Archivist society doesn't toss her out on her ear and even more of a mystery is why the duke puts up with such an interruption. Put in today's terms it's like a constituent decides to barge into a Senator's house and start asking if they're involved in something scandalous. It's a wonder the duke doesn't have her tossed out on the street on her bum, or call the authorities and have her tossed in jail for trespassing. One would think, having been there before, she wouldn't be anxious to go back.

Already the reader gets a taste of her self- importance and the way she questions the duke, like she's owed answers makes her seem like an entitled little snot. As if her actions weren't bad enough, her thoughts are rather odd considering. She finds the duke attractive, despite that he appears menacing, and she's worried he will do her bodily harm- seriously? who's busy going - well he might attack me and hurt me but at least he's good looking... Now if she had tempered her interest by noting how he actually appeared concerned for her and finding that aspect intriguingly at odds with how he presented himself, that might have been more palatable.

Already off to a rocky start, things go a bit more wonky as Georgia involves the Archivist Society. The reader's given a little intro to the society and the members, although the story given is a bit far-fetched, not that someone would behave that way, just how they handled the situation and that it would have gone so well in their favor.

So enter the Archivist society. Now the members are much more interesting thus far that Georgia. Emma, who is Georgia's roommate, and co-worker is purported to have been a street rat and have street smarts. Fogerty is a former copper, Jacob apparently a former street rat as well and current butler slash society member in training. Frances is a people person and Sir Broderick is the brains of the operation.

They meet to decide if they would take the case? But it appears Georgia has already pretty much done that for them, not to mention while they are having their semi-secret meeting, they are barged in on by two aristocrats, one of which is Blackford who declare they don't want the society involved in finding this man.

This happens quite a bit, many people just stopping in to see Georgia to tell her to stay out of their business while answering all of her nosy questions. It's kind of odd, considering she's supposed to be a secret member of a somewhat secret society, yet everyone seems to know who Georgia is and where to find her and to seek her out to tell her to butt out while revealing secrets to her.

Of course the Archivists are on the case and Georgia uses her connections for once somewhat correctly to find out what the missing man was up to, as it turns out he was thought to be something of a thief (hence the title). The downside is she treats all the people she meets as if she's interrogating them and that they owe her answers. And she thinks she's smarter than them, or at least Blackford (which definitely doesn't seem to hold true.) Enter her arrogance/pride. She's even called out on it and she ignores it because, well she wants answers, she's on the side of justice so they are owed to her right? Hello self-righteousness.

Bubble popping of disbelief number two- Georgia is at dinner with about 8 people. Now if you've ever been at a small dinner table it's hard not to hear the conversation someone is having across the table or beside you- which is why it's so hard to believe that Georgia and Blackford have a private back and forth rather personal Q&A. If they had been at table with 20 people or 50, it would have been more credible, but not with such a small number seated at an intimate gathering. Yet no one seems to hear or pay attention to them? *pop*

How is she a hypocrite then- arrogant, self-righteous, pushy, but where does that fit in? After dinner she suspects Blackford is interested in her and wants to be her 'protector' and she sneers at this idea. She even proclaims how she can protect herself and doesn't need any assistance. At two points later Georgia is attacked. In the first she fends off one of her attackers and only escapes with assistance of Blackford. Blackford reveals he is having someone watch out for her which she's not happy about. In the second attack she is injured and discovered Blackford called off the man sent to assist her and she, without words, indicates her injuries are Blackford's fault. She claims to be self-reliant and gets upset when someone assists, yet when they follow her wishes and let her be, she gets upset. Secondly, she champions the thief's rights and vehemently doesn't condone the murder of anyone (her words), yet when a few events unfold she doesn't bat an eye at the proposition of the plan to kill the perpetrator. How does she champion one and disregard the other. If she's so against the murder of anyone, why does she not speak up about the plan against the perpetrator.

And let's talk about those attacks a bit. In the first she handles herself well and uses her head to escape, accepting help and returns home no worse for wear and while shaken, she's not a sobbing hysterical mess. Yet in the second when she's actually struck, she's a sobbing half-hysterically. Why does one attack not seem to bother her as much, and the second turn her into a blubbering mess? She's not the only one this happens to. Emma also is abducted, twice. After the first she's okay, but the second turns her into a sobbing mess. Emma is a girl from the streets- why does one affect her more than the other, especially since in the second she was almost in a sense safer than during the first?

One last thing about Georgia, then we shall move on- as pushy as she is, she's also a thoughtless blabbermouth. She basically tells the perpetrator where to find what is being looking for without any regard to the danger she just put that person in- and it's very obvious that person would become a target, but she just blabbers on, heedless of the possible consequences and it doesn't even cross her mind what she just did until several chapters later when something happens.

Moving on to some other aspects. While the writing wasn't bad and the setting and descriptions worked pretty well, many of the transitions were horrible. The narrative would be flowing and then all of a sudden, an abrupt halt would be put on it. Many of the end of the chapters felt like being a passenger in a car with a driver that's constantly tapping the breaks so the car is going forward, jerking to a stop, going forward smoothly then jerking to a stop again.: go, jerk, stop, go, jerk, stop.
The reader will be following a conversation between the main characters when suddenly Georgina's thoughts jump to something completely different for a few sentences and then comes the end of the chapter of which the beginning of the next chapter has nothing to do with the previous one. Now, yes chapters can be used effectively to denote the passage of time or a change in situation, but it is not effectively used when the narrator abruptly ends a conversation or train of thought and then plops the reader into a completely different scene or setting without any context.

At one point Georgia is walking with Emma and Jacob- but next chapter she's magically by herself. The reader only finds out halfway into the chapter that at some point she got ahead of the two of them. This disjointedness of a transition happens sadly often through the narrative.

Now let's talk about some of the good. The mystery was moderately interesting and had a few interesting twists, once Georgia got around to finding the thief; there were also a few minor mysteries including what the blackmail material was on all the usual suspects and what really happened to Victoria and Margaret. Of course Georgia, with her usual pushy, arrogant grace, smashed into things until she got her answers although sometimes she was a bit slow on the uptake. The reader is never given a really definitive answer on some of the minor mysteries, but at least the main one is wrapped up.

The book leaves with a taunt from the overarching plot of Georgia finding her parent's killer- the reader is told about Georgia's history of her abduction and her parent's death in the first few chapters.

Overall it's a light read. Nothing too heavy, but definitely eye-roll worthy at times and the stilted transitions between chapters can be a bit jarring, but the writing is pretty solid. Georgia isn't entirely sympathetic and at times seems a bit of a ditz, but she's not completely unsympathetic at least. The rest of the cast are interesting too, so that's a plus. More of about a 2.5 close to a 3, but Georgia needs to do some growing; it'll be interesting if she does grow or remains the same.

[Ruth Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the first few chapters, the story grabbed my interest.

[Kendi]

DNF at around 40%.

All tell, no show. There was way too much dialogue, not enough action. Also, too many characters to keep straight. It's confusing, and makes it difficult to follow the plot.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an entertaining read, although it didn't feel like the first of a series. A great deal of backstory was mentioned in passing, all of which left me thinking "that would make a good story" and wondering why the author didn't start with one of those disparate threads. Perhaps she is planning to elaborate as the series continues (via flashback, perhaps?) or a few prequels are in the offing?

Regardless of that annoyance, and the difficulty of keeping track of all the various names of the gentry that appear in the book, I enjoyed the story a great deal. Certainly there are some portions of the story that feel a bit contrived, considering the mores of Victorian society -- while I recognize them, I am willing to ignore them in favor of allowing the author to move along the plot of an enjoyable story. And I did enjoy it. Georgia Fenchurch is a well-written and strong character; the supporting cast of her associates in the Antiquarian Society are diverse and interesting (wish their backstories were developed more!); and Lord Blackford is equal parts intriguing and elusive, which makes for the perfect leading man!

Overall, I'm willing to read another installment of this series. I'm intrigued by the secondary and ongoing mystery about the death of Georgia's parents, and of course I want to know when Blackford will turn up again! While the writing lacked the depth of some other books that I have read set in a similar era, I was entertained enough and interested enough in the characters to make another foray into the world of the Antiquarian Society.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book! The first few chapters had me flipping back and forth trying to remember all the characters' names, but soon enough, I was completely hooked. I had a very hard time setting this book down to go do anything else, and read most of it in a day.

Georgia was a fun character, and I liked how she was not afraid to go toe-to-toe with the much more imposing Duke of Blackford. I can't wait to see how their characters develop in the next book, and am very glad that I already own it.

The supporting characters were also interesting enough that I never got bogged down with the large number of them. The main mystery was done fairly well, and while I had my guesses early on, the book takes you on quite a twisty path to reach its resolution.

I look forward to continuing this series.