Dark Economy

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book, but it felt overlong, with too many suspects, and a lot of twists and turns for what was, in the end, a fairly simple mystery. In a long book, I want to be able to immerse myself in the atmosphere, and this book isn't all that atmospheric, for a historical novel. In a lot of ways, it doesn't feel much like a historical. In fact, Cadell has pretty modern sensibilities.

I really loved Cadell, though! He charmed me from the beginning, despite what he's doing when we meet him (digging up a corpse; I'm not going to spoiler tag that because it happens in the first chapter). He's a flawed man, stubborn and prideful, but his curiosity, sense of humor, and passion for his profession, as well as for every handsome man he meets, were all appealing. Every time I started to get a little dismayed with the book's pacing, Cadell's wit drew me back in.

I see that other reviewers felt the romance was a bit lacking in this novel, so I was expecting a story in which the romance took a backseat to the mystery or action. That wasn't exactly the case; it's clear that Cadell and Breton are drawn to each other from very early on, and Breton influences a great number of Cadell's actions, even when he's not present. Their scenes together were usually amusing.

However, in my opinion, it takes a bit too much time for Cadell to see Breton as human and multifaceted. Cadell spends most of the book lusting after him or annoyed with him, sometimes both, but he didn't seem to feel genuine affection or admiration for Breton until a certain point in the solving of the mystery, near the end. It was definitely a believable romance, though. I would've liked an epilogue, showing them happy together. But the happy ending was pretty solid, and it wasn't really needed.

The mystery was interesting, and I liked that Cadell explicitly acknowledges that his involvement in it has improved his life. There was a red-herring suspect who seriously fooled me until the real killer and the leader of the thieves were revealed. I was actually shocked he wasn't involved! So I thought that was pretty clever.

Overall, it's a good book, and I recommend it, just with a few reservations.