While in the process of rescuing Daphne Pennington from being abducted by a fortune hunter, Beatrice Lockwood, on assignment for Flint and Marsh, finds her past has caught up to her. Helped by a gentleman who appears to be looking for her in connection to blackmail, Beatrice soon finds herself mired in an investigation that connects back to her days as a psychic at the Academy of the Occult. The same place she fled from because of a mad man who killed her mentor in an attempt to get to her.

Joshua Gage has been retired from his career as a spy for the Crown but when someone begins blackmailing his sister, he finds himself returning to his old life in order to ferret out the person responsible. Though all roads lead to Beatrice as the blackmailer, Joshua quickly discovers she is not the culprit he's after and joins forces with the mysterious lady. Passion flares quickly between Joshua and Beatrice as they hunt for a mad scientist hellbent on resurrecting his dead lover using an ancient Egyptian formula and Beatrice's paranormal talent. The closer they get to finding out the identity of the scientist, the more dangerous it becomes and soon Joshua learns it's not just Beatrice's past that's come back to haunt her; his past isn't as dead as he thought it was either.

Amanda Quick has always been a go-to author for me. If I want to read a book that's guaranteed to suck me in and keep me entranced in its world, Quick (or one of her alter ego's) is the author I depend on. In THE MYSTERY WOMAN, the second book in the Ladies of the Lantern Street series, Quick proves again why she's the top author for many readers. Her spunky, independent heroines, along with her dark, brooding heroes, have a way of drawing the reader into implausible situations that only Quick can bring to life and make believable. With a strong psychic talent, a debonaire gentleman, a blazing hot romance, a crazy mad scientist and a mysterious life changing formula, THE MYSTERY WOMAN is exactly the kind of read we've come to expect from Quick and the only mystery is what's taking you so long in picking up a copy for yourself.

Book Summary

Under the plain gray skirts of Miss Beatrice Lockwood’s gown, a pistol waits at the ready. For Beatrice is a paid companion on a secret mission—and with a secret past—and she must be prepared to fight for her life at any moment.

Yet she is thrown oddly off guard by the fierce-looking man who joins her in foiling a crime outside a fancy ball—and then disappears into the shadows, leaving only his card. His name is Joshua Gage, and he claims to know Beatrice’s employers. Beyond that, he is an enigma with a hypnotically calm voice and an ebony-and-steel cane. . . .

Joshua, who carries out clandestine investigations for the Crown, is equally intrigued. He has a personal interest in Miss Lockwood, a suspected thief and murderer, not to mention a fraudster who claims to have psychical powers. The quest to discover her whereabouts has pulled him away from his mournful impulses to hurl himself into the sea—and engaged his curiosity about the real Beatrice Lockwood, whose spirit, he suspects, is not as delicate as her face and figure.

He does know one thing, though: This flame-haired beauty was present the night Roland Fleming died at the Academy of the Occult. Guilty or not, she is his guide to a trail of blood and blackmail, mesmerism and madness—a path that will lead both of them into the clutches of a killer who calls himself the Bone Man.