A Book with an Animal on the Cover

If you know my writing, you’ll be aware that one of the things I rant about most when reviewing contemporary romances particularly (although other genres can also wind me up) is the inclusion of (almost always) a dog that is supposed to ramp up the cuteness quotient of the book. Sometimes it’s a cat, but cats are usually too busy being supercilious to worry about being cute. Anyway, this general irritation of mine made this a hard category to fill. Then I remembered this:

The Quality of Mercy is the seventh of ten books by David Roberts featuring Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne. It also happens to be the first one I read, having bought it randomly in a secondhand bookshop in Peebles. As soon as I had finished it, I set about acquiring the rest of the series. Edward and Verity and their relationship owes something, I think, to Dorothy L Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane set-up. But that’s only on the surface; their problems and personalities are quite different.

David Roberts’ series is set very firmly in the 1930s with references to notable people and real-world events. Like Peter, Edward has links to the government and is asked to investigate from time to time. Verity, however, is a paid-up member of the Communist Party, a journalist and very modern young woman. She’s attracted to Edward but as much for his connections as his person, at least to start with. It’s in The Quality of Mercy that that changes. However, that’s not to say that she stops using the aforementioned connections!

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