India Black~ A Madam of Espionage Mystery

I hope you enjoyed my interview with Carol K. Carr yesterday. She is the author of India Black, A Madam of Espionage Mystery.

I could not agree with her more when she characterizes the first (yay... there will be more!) India Black novel as a "old-fashioned adventure, with episodes of derring-do and comic interludes"... what a perfect description! And she was not wrong... it was everything promised and then some! I even learned a little history along the way... thanks, Dizzy.

The cover is a perfect example of India. She looks proper and oh so lady-like on the outside but, as we soon learn, that is just her "hard candy shell". She is uncompromising, unapologetic and, at times, unaware of the impression she gives. And when she does know, she just doesn't care! She is who she is and if you don't like it, you "can go to the devil. It's all the same to me"... India's words, not mine.

Speaking of words... the first lines are PERFECT... "My name is India Black. I am a whore.". Doesn't that just suck you in? I dare you to read the preface and not want to follow India on her first adventure. You are swept up until the very last line. Some authors are great at creating characters, some at writing witty dialogue, some at fashioning intriguing mysteries. It's a rare and wonderful thing when an author brings together all of these. Ms. Carr has done, not only that, but, I think, she loves to really set the scene. She left no detail untold but did not "overwrite" (I'm not sure that's even a word... but it's my blog and I'm using it :P) either. I hate, especially in mysteries, when there is so much detail that I start skimming in order to move the story along. I want to know where I am, but, hey...let me use my imagination a little. Ms. Carr knows that fine line.

Of course, this novel is characterized as a mystery. And the mystery that India finds herself embroiled in is well-plotted and not easily figured out. Just the way I like 'em! One of my biggest pet peeves when reading mysteries is being able to figure it out midway through. Ugh!! I want to be challenged and enjoy the unraveling, if you will, along with the protagonists. But, I have to be able, after I've finished the book, to go back and see that, really, it was all laid out. This mystery accomplishes all that. I truly enjoyed the ride that was this novel.

Thanks to Carol K. Carr and the publisher for providing a copy of India Black, A Madam of Espionage Mystery in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review.