Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Miss Education of Dr. Exeter-Jillian Stone

The Miss Education of Dr. Exeter


Jillian Stone

Kensington Brava, Jun 25 2013, $9.95

ISBN: 9780758269003



In 1889 London, as guardian for years to beautiful Mia Chadwick, Dr. Asa Exeter takes some time away from the fight against Professor Lovecraft and the need to recover the moonstone to find a suitable husband for his ward. In that fatherly-like role, Asa contends with two issues besides sniffing males. First he must ignore Mia’s obvious attraction to him and him to her; and second he must end her out of control tendency to shift into a panther by helping his charge learn to control her inner feline. Both test his ability to tame the beast as he struggles to do what he considers his honorable duty almost as much as he battles Lovecraft’s threat to London.



Meanwhile Scotland Yard consultant Moonstone Investigations Phaeton Black has been declared missing since he vanished without a trace though those searching for him (Exeter, Mia, pregnant America, Tim, Jersey and Valentine) know he is alive. In the Outremer, Prospero holds and tortures Black in order to force the sleuth to hand over the moonstone.



The third fun Phaeton Black Victorian romantic investigative fantasy (see The Seduction of Phaeton Black, and The Moonstone and Miss Jones) concentrates more on the relationship between Exeter and Mia (as obvious from the title) than on the missing sleuth. Still readers will appreciate this engaging alternate paranormal historical version of Shaw’s Pygmalion.



Harriet Klausner

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