Though This Be Madness

by Penny Richards

Lilly Long strives to prove herself at the Pinkerton Detective Agency.  Her acting background has been beneficial but posing as a married working couple with Cade McShane is not the direction she was hoping for.  Since McShane is on thin ice with his employers, he doesn’t express his displeasure being paired with the former actress.  However, the two soon put their differences aside to figure out why the matriarch of the wealthy Fortenot family suspects her granddaughter’s husband is up to no good.  As the pair go about their day-to-day duties, they begin to piece together a dark picture of voodoo, infidelity, and deceit.

Richards creates a realistic look at the power men held over women, well into the late 19^th century and the deep seated traditions that drove the south.  Into the ugly realism of fabricated illness she adds the hierarchy the privileged held over the less fortunate in their employ. To spice up the story and break the intensity, Richards tosses in a little added spice of romantic tension and adolescent shenanigans that bring this second installment of the Lilly Long series to a nice simmer.  A good one to put on your To Read list.

ISBN:  978161496706041     Pub: Kensington                Pub Date:  Apr. 25, 2017