Little Coquette

by Joan Smith

MURDER IS AN INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNING FOR ROMANCE

Young bluestocking Lydia Trevelyn and her notable neighbor Lord Beaumont had managed to thwart all matchmaking schemes. However, fate conspires to bring them together through a most unfortunate murder. For when Beaumont finds a body in a local river, Lydia is shocked to discover that the deceased was, in life, her father's mistress.

Shaken by the truth about  her father and by the murky circumstances of his paramour's death, Lydia sees Beaumont as an ally in solving the mystery. Amid much bickering, the unlikely pair plumbs London's seamier side, exposing themselves to unbidden danger--not the least of which is the peril of losing their hearts . . . to love!

Genres: Regency, Romance, Historical Romance, Mystery, Clean Romance, Historical

198 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 27, 1998

About the author

Joan Smith is a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and the Ontario College of Education. She has taught French and English in high school and English in college. When she began writing, her interest in Jane Austen and Lord Byron led to her first choice of genre, the Regency, which she especially liked for its wit and humor.
Her favorite travel destination is England, where she researches her books. Her hobbies are gardening, painting, sculpture and reading. She is married and has three children. A prolific writer, she is currently working on Regencies and various mysteries at her home in Georgetown, Ontario.
She is also known as Jennie Gallant

Reviews

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a weak spot for Joan Smith's Regency romances, despite the fact that her stories are sometimes not accurate considering social rules. In many points, they are loyal to the historical facts and they frequently stress out the position and lot of the woman, but for the sake of the plot and/or action Joan Smith sometimes "bent the reality". E. g. in Georgette Heyer's novels you won't find an honest conversation between a father and a daughter about his mistress.

But Smith wrote with wit and with the goal to entertain the readers - constantly balancing between amusing and being historically true. In other words, her novels aren't the best for someone little knowing about the Regency world, but if you know a bit you can (like me) just smile at inaccuracies and have joy from the romance and the rest of the plot.

PS I think that a few years ago I would have given it 4 stars. But today, although I really have a nice time reading the book (Lydia and Beaumont were a perfect couple for a sparking romance), my 3.5 goes into 3 stars.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to suspend my disbelief a LOT. That this 18 year-old girl could go traipsing around London either in the company of just her male neighbor or a prostitute and not come to any harm. Or marriage. And one of her disguises was as the sister of her father's mistress. It was just odd.

Other than that it was a decent story with a well built mystery.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was awfully historically inaccurate. Still I liked it!

[Rob Imes · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Little Coquette" was Joan Smith's last novel to be published by Fawcett Crest, in July 1998. Her first novel had been published by Fawcett in 1977. She wrote around 90 Regency novels for Fawcett until their parent company Ballantine closed down their traditional Regency line at the end of 1998. (Unfortunately the long-running Fawcett brand was also retired around this time. It's always a little frustrating to me whenever one company buys another, only to eliminate the identifiable brand that they now own.) "Little Coquette" was billed as "A Regency Romantic Mystery" on the cover, a hybrid subcategory that Smith had increasingly been writing -- a Regency romance that is also a mystery novel (or vice versa). There is more of a focus on mystery than romance, however, with the hero and heroine not being romantically involved for most of the novel, their first kiss occurring on page 154 (in a 198-page book).

Her final book for Fawcett is the first Joan Smith book I've read, although from sampling the opening pages of several of her other novels I already knew that I would like her writing, which features clever turns of phrases and enjoyable banter between the characters. Our heroine is Lydia Trevelyn, the 18 year old daughter of a London politician; she was recently gifted a copy of Mary Wollstonecraft's "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" and aspires to be an independent woman in a society that thinks women should get married instead. She and a former childhood friend (our hero Lord Beaumont) discover a dead body near her home that turns out to be the longtime mistress of her father. The discovery that her father had a mistress is disillusioning for Lydia, but she and Beaumont attempt to solve the mystery of who murdered the woman (while hoping that her father was not involved). There is a lot of old-fashioned mystery and adventure as they pursue the clues to the case and ultimately face danger as they discover the killer. It's a fun, quick read, and I enjoyed it very much. I rate the book 3.5 stars.

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I read this book many many years ago I liked it a lot. This time I liked it much less although one can see how good Joan Smith writes. This time a woman has been found dead by Lydia Trevelyn in the river running near the Manor she lives in. Her neighbor, Lord Beaumont, helps her drag her out and Lydia right away finds clues to her fathers involvement with the woman, a lady of the night. The whole romance is taken up with the story of this young person, money she was or was not stealing, so much so, I lost interest toward the end. Still she is quite funny and I enjoyed her writing.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

regency romance and mystery. Hero and heroine both come of unhappy marriages, so are a little leery of the marital state. a murder.. Heroine poses as a "light-skirt". Hero as her "gent". Politics is mentioned.

[Abra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Joan Smith, but as an author of feminist contemporary mysteries -- academic setting -- rather than as an author of Regencies, though she is much more prolific with those. It's somewhat amazing that the books are written by the same woman. I like Regencies, so I may read a few more of hers before giving up... but I wish she'd write some more mysteries about Loretta Lawson, professor and sometime sleuth. The ones that exist (which I must add to Goodreads) are from the 1990s and spend a lot of time explaining the postmodern fashion in academia. I enjoyed that.

[H2bourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story. It's above average but didn't draw me in. I never felt a connection with the characters. Lydia and Beau didn't have much chemistry so the romance aspect of the story fell a bit flat. It does deal with some serious issues like married men having mistresses, murder, counterfeiting...but it seemed glossed over. This is a light, entertaining read. It wasn't too compelling overall but I wouldn't say it's a waste of time either. It's more like a good read at the beach or cabin.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This doesn't fit my usual criteria for four stars. However, it's the first I've read in this series, and I want to reward the author for creating a story that's not only engaging, but has characters that actually behave as reasonable human beings throughout.