annieb123's Review of City of Fortune (A Counterfeit Lady Novel, #6)

by Victoria Thompson

When a day at the races reveals sabotage and subterfuge, Elizabeth Miles must use every ounce of her craftiness to even the score in this all-new Counterfeit Lady novel from USA Today bestselling author Victoria Thompson.

Wealthy but uncouth Sebastian Nolan has invited his lawyer, Gideon Bates, and his lovely new wife, Elizabeth, to attend the famous Belmont Stakes. Nolan is anxious for Gideon and Elizabeth to help his daughter, Irene, acquire a bit of polish, now that his venture into thoroughbred racing has allowed them entry into society. He is also hoping to find her a rich potential suitor. Elizabeth is not exactly the society girl Nolan believes her to be, but she is eager to attend the races. Her con artist family has made a lot of money at racetracks, although not from betting on the horses, and she enjoys the excitement of the track.

Irene Nolan seems more interested in horses than husbands, and she jumps at the chance to show Elizabeth her horse, Trench, and introduce her to his rider, Cal Regan. Elizabeth soon realizes there is more than just a working relationship between Irene and Cal. But she also knows that Irene’s father would never allow his only daughter to marry a jockey. When Cal takes a terrible tumble injuring both himself and Irene’s beloved Trench, Elizabeth and Gideon learn that the mishap was not simply bad luck—the horse and rider are victims of sabotage.

It turns out that Sebastian Nolan has more than a few skeletons in his closet and someone is out to get their long sought-after revenge. Elizabeth knows that to help Irene and Cal, she is going to need some help in creating the quintessential con. With the ever honest Gideon at her side, she enlists those closest to her to come up with a scheme that will either ensure young Irene and Cal a first-place finish or have disastrous consequence. . . .

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

City of Fortune is the 6th Counterfeit Lady mystery by Victoria Thompson. Released 6th Dec 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

Protagonist Elizabeth is a sort of "equalizer" who is a mostly reformed con-woman who only uses her skills for good these days. She's setting into married life with her ever-honest paragon of a husband, attorney Gideon to provide an air of respectability.

This story takes place around horses and the racing milieu is central to the plot. After a dreadful accident at the racetrack, Elizabeth is determined to get to the bottom of what's happening and find out who's responsible, and at the same time not have her cover blown as a counterfeit socialite.

The story does work well enough as a standalone and the mystery is self contained in this volume, although the characters have developed over the course of the series and some interactions will be spoiled by reading them out of order (such as Elizabeth and Gideon's marriage). The dialogue is sometimes a tiny bit stilted, but I believe that's a conscious decision for period verisimilitude on the part of the author. The author is additionally very good at making the horse racing setting believable and immersive.

Four stars. With 6 books extant in the series, it would be a good choice for a binge (or buddy) read. Definitely one for fans of historical mysteries with strong feisty female characters.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

19 December, 2022: Started reading

19 December, 2022: Finished reading

19 December, 2022: Reviewed