Lydia Pallas has the perfect job. She is a translator working for the U.S. Navy. It is very unusual for a woman to hold such a position, but Lydia is grateful for her job. At a young age, she became an orphan when her parents and her younger sibling were lost at sea.
Alexander Banebridge is a driven man. He moves around a lot so that the person that is after him can't pin him down to any one location. Alex's life goal is to end the opium trade. He has seen how innocent people become addicted to this horrible drug by using a supposedly safe tonic that is used to sooth crying babies.
Alex and Lydia's lives cross at the Navy yard in Boston. Lydia helps Alex translate some papers. This simple act is the cause of the loss of her beloved job, but is that all she will lose?
Camden's storytelling pulls you into the story quickly. Lydia has a need for order in her life. Alex passes through the office and moves something on Lydia's desk just to upset that perfect order. Lydia never sees Alex move anything on her desk, she only sees the disarray afterwords. This is how their friendship begins. Camden introduces you to her characters slowly. You get to know them and care about them before she muddies the water with another character. This helps to move the story along without confusing the reader. Camden also weaves subtle humor in the characters that bring about bursts of laughter from the reader. The mysteries to solve unveil themselves one after the other. Just when you think things will right themselves another plot twist appears. The book resolves on a final happy chord. This is a book that will go onto my "to be read again" book shelf.
Thank you to Bethany House Publishers for providing me with this complimentary copy to read and review.
