Lie by Moonlight by Amanda Quick

From the Publisher

During an investigation into a women's death, gentleman thieft turned private inquiry agent Ambrose Wells finds himself at Aldwick Castle – and in the middle of chaos. The building is in flames. Men are dead. And a woman and four young girls are fleeing on horseback.

A confirmed loner, Ambrose nevertheless finds himself taking Miss Concordia Glade and her young charges under his wing. With their lives at risk, he insists they must remain in hiding until he is able to unravel the truth behind their recent imprisonment at the castle.

Concordia has never met anyone like Ambrose Wells before. He is bold, clever, and inscrutable – even to the perceptive gaze of a professional teacher such as herself. He is also her only hope to protect her pupils from the unscrupulous men who are after them – powerful, shadowy figures who will stop at nothing to get what they want.

Publishers Weekly

Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) gives her fans what they want in her latest historical romance, set in a movieland Victorian England. Concordia Glade, a teacher with past secrets and unconventional ideas about educating women, meets Ambrose Wells, a "private inquiry agent" with secrets of his own and an unusual tattoo, as she and her four orphaned pupils flee Aldwick Castle, which they have set on fire to hide their escape. Ambrose escorts the lovely fugitives to safety, protecting them from the criminal mastermind and his aristocratic partner who'd kept them as part of a dastardly plan to use them for profit and pleasure. Concordia returns the favor by helping Ambrose investigate the mysterious death of a London woman. Courteous, daring, resourceful, Concordia and Ambrose can't wait to ravish each other repeatedly. Who but Quick (The Paid Companion, etc.) finds such joy in chestnuts such as the boy thief mentored by the rich man he tries to rob? Or the dilettante solving cases Scotland Yard can't? Quick plunges into every clich ("Sensation after sensation coursed through her, leaving no room for uncertainty, let alone any sense of modesty"), but energizes her fluid narration with modern sensibilities, gutsy leads and romantic excesses. There's nothing new here, but that's part of Quick's great appeal. Agent, Steve Axelrod. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Quick's quirky heroines and stoic heroes are at the fore in her latest outing. Concordia Glade figures out almost immediately that her new position as tutor to four orphaned girls isn't quite on the level. Isolated in a remote castle, they soon realize that escape, however daring, is their only recourse. However, Concordia doesn't bargain on private investigator Ambrose Wells. Wells's latest case has led him to the castle, where the escape is already in progress, and he finds himself sucked into the maelstrom, surprisingly pleased to be there. Reader Anne Flosnik has a tendency to overdramatize; nevertheless, she invests each character with unique attributes. Though her voice isn't deep enough for truly effective Quick men, it is perfect for Concordia's unconventional, modern attitudes and behavior. A welcome addition to public libraries.-Jodi L. Israel, MLS, Jamaica Plain, MA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Ambrose ravishes Concordia. And so goes another historical romance from the remarkably prolific Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz), author of equally numerous contemporary thrillers. In this Victorian-era mystery, freethinking governess Concordia Gale rescues her charges from certain ruin. Hired to teach four orphans at a remote castle, Concordia soon discovers the mysterious benefactor's nefarious plan: to auction off the young ladies to the highest bidder. In a MacGyver-like move, Concordia blows up the castle and she and the girls escape, with the unexpected help of Ambrose Wells, a private inquiry agent brought to the castle for his own investigations. Ambrose brings Concordia and the girls back to his stately London manse for safe keeping-the crime lord behind the auction will stop at nothing-nothing!-to get the girls back. Meanwhile, Ambrose and Concordia act on their passion. Indeed, ever since Ambrose first spied her "charmingly rounded derriere" on horseback, the two have been practicing the fine art of flirtation. And they soon discover they have much in common. Concordia is the illegitimate daughter of two radical free-thinkers, and was raised in their community of like-minded intellectuals. This makes Concordia determined and worldly. A rumored sex-scandal at the commune has ruined Concordia's reputation, and she must hide her past at all costs. Likewise, Ambrose comes from a long line of swindlers and as an orphaned teenager became a master burglar, skills he now uses as an investigator. Reformed by the wealthy Mr. Stoner (whose house he lives in, whose heir he is), Ambrose spent years in Asia studying the ancient ways of the Vanza from monks. This makes Ambrose mysterious anddisciplined. After some undercover investigations (Ambrose and Concordia are now working as a team, which may indicate sequels to come), a few murders and explanations all around, Ambrose and Concordia consummate their relationship amid the ferns in the conservatory. For fans of Quick, certainly another pleaser as romance and murder and silk flounces abound. For the uninitiated, beware: the purple prose is only a few footsteps away from high camp.

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