| Title | : | The Glass House (Captain Lacey, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0425199436 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780425199435 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 |
| Publication | : | First published December 7, 2004 |
The Glass House is a place where London's high society can indulge their vices. When one of its regulars is found floating in the Thames, Captain Lacey demands justice, uncovering jealousy and murder--while also confronting some secrets of his own.
The Glass House (Captain Lacey, #3) Reviews
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Written December 25, 2015
3.8 Stars - Nothing especially grand or fancy but very enjoyable, moderately exciting, and always well made
Book #3
I'm a
Captain Lacey fan by now and it was great to listening to a new adventure with these characters stumbling over a new murder case.
**tipp tapp, tipp tapp...**
# (Yesterday 24th Dec.) ~ It's Christmas Eve (the DAY up here) and I'm on my way to big family Christmas Dinner. Listening to the second half of this audiobook this morning was a pretty good preparing for a lot of traditional ham, herring, salmon, meatballs, Santa Clause, a bunch of family relatives —more unhealthy food, cakes, chocolate, mulled wine, candy— and maybe also a nice xmas gift or two (..tried to be be a nice girl this year also).
# (One day later 25th Dec.) ~ Jippie Yay! Santa gave me a pile of very fine gifts (including four old fashioned jam jars filled with candy that probably should be eaten as soon as possible).
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London, January 1817
Our hero, the limping, often moody but always very brave, former cavalry officer Captain Gabriel Lacey, nowadays a Amateur Sleuth, ....
« ... is summoned to the banks of the Thames to identify the body of a young woman. When Lacey looks at the pretty, dead young woman, cut down too soon, he vows to find her murderer. ... »
“You are bloody stubborn and too damned proud, Lacey.”
“I know that. Plenty have been happy to tell me so.”
Time for questioning for clues, wondering about oddly suspect behavior and of course meet some mysterious people from both the highest society, their staff and ordinary street people. Our curious Captain is, as always, together with his very good friend the famous (top gentleman of society) Lucius Grenville, running around (an aching old war-wounded leg or not) in an 1810:s winter-cold, quite cruel and naughty, but in the end, believable London.
This The Glass House adventure was as quite often, in the good spirit of saving some unfortunate beautiful women's honor and dignity, partly Lacey's specialty, and the puzzle was like usually quite impossible to foresee. No peculiarities but nicely done. ~ I ('course) like best to follow our main character's own development and balling with private life intricacies. I still live with the hopeful hope that Lacey will get his since years dear Louisa (unfortunately married to Colonel Brandon) some day in the future. But who knows? I cross my...
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The series, author's pen-name, my reviews
There are 10 novels with
Captain Lacey, the dashing goodlooking hero, so far. Historical crime investigations whodunnit books.
Ashley Gardner is a pseudonym (or the opposite) for
Jennifer Ashley. I seems to like most books and series by her pen - romances or not. ~ (My reviews: )
Once again a 8 hours excellent theatrical narration
I truly like
James Gillies narration style, it fit perfect to male voiced mysteries in a bit light and old-fashioned historical genre. Gillies sounds grumpy like our bighearted gorgeous, but often angry or depressed, hero. Gillies' women voices are maybe a bit silly and cheesy but all in all feels he as good enough narrator.
‘I could not call after her. I could not beg her to stay. I could only stand there, my hands curling and uncurling, while the woman I cared for most in the world walked out of my life.’
My third time with the limping brave mystery solving Captain Lacey two hundred years ago and I like. Looking forward to start book part #4-
The Sudbury School Murders.
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I LIKE - and will return... soonish -
I very much enjoy the writing of this series but the foundation for the mystery never really grabbed me. Why take on this murder..... I thought it the weak link the rest of the story was built upon. I understood the comparison with Lacey's wife, but it just didn't work for me. The side characters are well done, and I enjoyed how each is further developed as the story continues. I have my favorite, Lady Breckenridge! I did not guess how the mystery would play out. Look forward to continuing the series. 3.5*
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Not as compelling a read as A Regimental Murder, but still very enjoyable. Lacey, being the big noble galoot that he is, feels compelled to investigate the death of a young woman fished out of the Thames.
Lacey is the male equivalent of the female MC who is completely unaware of her beauty. That can be annoying or amusing; Gardner makes it amusing. You can tell from the reactions of the women in Lacey's life that he's sex on legs, and I love the way Gardner has him casually toss in references to his broad shoulders, thick hair etc. Women want him and men want to be him; I suppose it's only a matter of time till a male character falls desperately in love with him à la Lord John Grey.
There's a nice cast of supporting characters, all easy to distinguish from one another. I prefer the allies to the villains; Gardner doesn't do villains as well as some, and Denis and Lady Jane don't come across as fully rounded to me. There are some little details here and there that don't come across as sufficiently Regency or English, which pulls me out of the story for a moment. But I dive back in because the stories are more enjoyable than most historical mysteries. Gardner really knows how to end a chapter with a cliffhanger. -
Audio version. Yes, my crush on Captain Lacey seems to be going strong with this 3rd book. These books are told in first person, generally not a favorite format for me, but works remarkably well here. Because it's told in first person, we never are told outright how handsome and charming he is. However, as the books go on, you definitely get the idea that Lacey is a good looking, capable man in his early 40s. Women seem to like him and he sometimes appears to not be exactly sure why. The romances do take a back seat to the mysteries but add a little something extra I think. All in all, makes for a great escape. I have already downloaded book #4.
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Glass House is the third book of Captain Lacey. A young woman is found dead on the banks of river Thames. Lacey is about to investigate this murder and then, more deaths followed. Glass House is a very strange place.
In this place, society people could satisfy their desires. The dead girl had visited this place to meet her lover. But what happened? I enjoyed every page. Can't wait until the next one.
Extremely enjoyable -
If you are reading this review you have likely found Ashley Gardner's first two Captain Lacy mysteries, 'The Hanover Square Affair' and 'A Regimental Murder'. I have read both of those and now this, the third in the series. I enjoyed the previous two books and I did like this one as well but I didn't think it was quite as good as the other two.
Captain Gabriel Lacy is semi-retired from the 35th Light Dragoons,
unsatisfied and restless without battles to fight he finds himself occupied investigating another murder in London. This time the victim bears a strong resemblance to an acquaintance of his and he is asked to identify the body. The woman is not his friend but he finds himself compelled to offer his assistance on her behalf.
I like the character Captain Lacy and I understand the need for repetition when writing in a series. But I found the strained relationship and interactions between the Captain and Colonel Brandon and his wife a little redundant. I thought the tension and frustration between the two men added to the previous two stories but in this one I felt the animosity was over done and seemed to detract from the story.
The period details are very satisfying and I enjoy the relationships between the characters. This mystery was not as compelling to me as the previous two. I mostly enjoyed revisiting the familiar characters and learning more about them.
I hope the next books in this series are more dynamic and satisfying and that Gardner reveals more about Lacy's past. I'm hoping that his move to the country will mean we see less of the Brandons.
August 6, 2009
I just listened to the audio book version of this after having read the print version back in 2009. I'm finding that sometimes I like books more the second time around. While this wasn't a favorite in this series I did like it enough to give it three stars. I only gave it two stars the last time around. -
Series is getting better.
I hope Louisa Brandon disappears- she is so annoying.
$1.99 on Kindle -
This third installment, The Glass House, was such a sluggish read that I found myself skipping pages just to get to the end. Gabriel Lacey came across as nearly psychotic in his zeal to defend the victim, who was by accounts an adulterer and owner of a bawdy house that supplied young girls as sex workers to depraved men. I felt no sympathy for Amelia Chapman and felt she came to the bad end she so richly deserved.
Lacey's usual panting after the married Louisa Brandon was nauseating. His prior decision to blindly follow Brandon to war and subsequent neglect of his wife belies his rabid defense damsels in distress. When his nemesis, James Denis, offered Lacey the location of Lacey's estranged wife and daughter, in his stubborn pride he steadfastly refuses to look for his wife and child, yet he dashes about London offering protection and defending the honor of other men's wives.
Lacey's friend, Lucius Grenville, has been reduced to sniveling twerp by the malicious viper Marianne. I did warm up to Lady Breckinridge, she is curious, intelligent, honest, and brings out the better nature of Captain Lacey. The reveal of the murderer lackluster and I was relieved when the story came to an inglorious end. -
Although he’s warned off by the underworld criminal, James Denis, not to get involved in the activities of The Glass House, Captain Lacey investigates anyway, leading to his discovering the secrets and vices of upper class.
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Still enjoying the world and the character development in this series.
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This third book in the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries series has Gabriel Lacey combatting 19th Century London's high society in the pursuit of justice for the poor and downtrodden. Some interesting forays into the indulgences and vices of Regency London's movers and shakers were informative and a bit shocking. Happily, there were return appearances by some of my favorite minor characters from books 1 and 2; and I was relieved to see Lacey's character with less psychological paralysis than the previous installment. I will likely continue reading this series as a sort of breather between weightier books on my TBR list.
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Three books in and still pretty good. I don’t think it’s a very popular series, but it needs to be.
I did find it alarming that many gentleman in Lacey’s company reach boiling point in a blink of an eye. Very short-tempered, these men. -
I’m enjoying this series! The big reveal is kind of a let-down, but the action and character development is so entertaining that I thought this was a great read.
There’s a bit of a love triangle forming and I’m not sure who I hope Lacey winds up with. Or maybe Brandon will die and it a third love interest will enter the fray? -
I don't think some of the things I've written are spoilers, but just in case...
I give it a rather solid 3. The reasons for this are,
The murder this time was (in my mind) easily seen through. When you start killing off suspects it is easy to ascertain who is the guilty party. I was also displeased at bringing in a (really rather weak) villainess to stand against Mr. Denis. If it is someone that he is scared of, then she should be more imposing than she was.
Thirdly the murdered character had such a stupid nickname, that was used more frequently than her real name, which made me want to throw the book across the room when I read it. In addition, the repeated mentions of the previous cases seemed awkward and unneeded. We get that this isn't his first investigation, get on with the story.
Finally, I was really annoyed by all the loose ends and rather quick changes in characters. While I was very happy to learn more about the vast and varied acquaintances of Lacey, I would've liked to have seen their interactions tied up a bit better. When you meet a character, become attached to them through learning their backstory and then only get a mention that they vaguely still exist, it's really quite frustrating. I'm not asking for a happily ever after, just a better idea of where they've ended up.
Maybe my curiosities here will be satisfied in the next book. But I'm unsure if I'll continue this series yet. I will probably continue on since the change of venue should be fresh, but we will see. I'm beginning to see Lacey more as an indecisive emo rather than a restless and wronged military gentleman. It makes him seem like a victim, and he is supposed to be stronger than that. -
I'm still a Lacey fan, but this third in the series was rather thin in plot. When a young woman is fished from the Thames, Lacey is called to identify the body because others fear it is his acquaintance, the young actress Marianne, who lives above his flat. Though Lacey is relieved to discover all is well with Marianne, he is now on the hunt for the murder of the young Mrs. Chapman. New characters enter the scene and beloved familiar rejoin as Lacey's investigation leads him to the horrors of the Glass House, a place even James Denis abhors. A tentative truce is called between the bitter enemies in order to bring down the Lady and her disgusting house of ill repute catering to the uber wealthy and connected of London society.
The thing that bothered me the most about this chapter in Lacey's life was the fact that the murder was so obvious up front. The manner in which Lacey "solved" the case wasn't really the result of his investigative prowess but more of a trite machination by Denis. It almost felt as if the author wasn't sure how to tie everything up, and thus the plot point was simply "revealed" to Lacey - it felt very contrived. It didn't ring true of the prior works and was quite a letdown to this fan.
However, I was glad to see the return of one particular Lady and am thrilled to see the direction of the potential storyline this offers in future.
This one only gets a three star for now. -
Uhm. This series is difficult to review. The writing is still decent, the history still well-researched. However, some elements are beginning to seriously bother me. Number one, the relationship of the protagonist, Captain Lacey, with his "arch-enemy" is getting more and more ridiculous. In book one, it was established that the bad-evil guy is bad-evil but would not stoop to procuring a lecher with an innocent miss -- and here Lacey jumps to the conclusion that a brothel with under-age girls must be his work. OK, so perhaps we're supposed to understand that he is unreasonable when it comes to the man, but we're simultaneously supposed to see him as this highly perceptive and very intelligent man, so it doesn't quite work.
Another thing is the gay-guy-is-the-culprit trope, which is getting repeated and, by now, frankly, simply smacks of homophobia. Also, women are still mostly villainous, except for the hero's love-interests. And yes, they are plural, since Lacey seems incapable of meeting a woman without desiring her, while all the time pining for his best friend's wife. So, honestly, pretty meh. -
In the third installment of this historical mystery series, Captain Gabriel Lacey investigates the murder of a young woman found floating dead in the Thames. His search for the killer leads him to the notorious Glass House, a place known to cater to every vice imaginable provided one his prepared to pay enormous sums for what one desires.
Deftly plotted mystery, engaging characters and an atmospheric setting - so far, I'm enjoying this series a lot. -
Another solid entry but a little slower than the others. I still like Lacey but was more frustrated by his character flaws. He seemed all over the place emotionally. It may be because this book sets up a change of venue for the Captain. As always, Grenville and (oddly) Denis are two of my favorite characters. It will be interesting to see if they have roles to play in the 4th installment... Onto the Berkshires!
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To be frank, I wasn't captivated by this addition to the series. It didn't hold my interest like the first book. Overall, it was a good story and the characters were somewhat interesting but it lacked something. I found myself rewinding the book several times to grasp what was going on because my attention had wandered. I like Captain Lacey and I hope the next book is a bit better than this one. I will stick with the series and see how things go with upcoming books in the series.
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Review to come....
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The Glass House by Ashley Gardner is the third book of the Captain Lacey mystery series set in Regency London. Captain Gabriel Lacey served in the Napoleonic Wars. He's depressed and moody, recovering from war injuries, back in London, just scraping by (the family fortune was squandered by his father's debts). His wealthy and powerful friend Grenville provides help occasionally (when Lacey's pride allows) as they work together to make inquiries and solve crimes. Lacey's former commanding officer Brandon is a hateful jerk, but Brandon's wife Louisa is Lacey's dearest beloved friend, so he tries to grin and bear the barbs from Brandon when he visits them.
A young woman's body is found on the banks of the Thames. Lacey is summoned to identify her, in case she is the woman who lives above his lodgings. She isn't Marianne, but he is touched by her look of innocence, and enraged she was murdered. He vows to find out who killed her.
Turns out she was not so innocent, and his investigation turns dangerous. He learns many secrets of high society members who frequent a gentlemen's club catering to vices, including child prostitutes.
The overall mood is grim and depressing, for London in general, and Lacey's financial, social & physical status in particular. Abundant period detail shows the vast dichotomy between daily lives of workers vs. members of the elite high society. Action moves along quickly, and Lacey makes interesting acquaintances, likely to reappear. In solving the crimes, he barely escapes with his life. -
Lacey is asked to look at the body of a young woman dragged out of the Thames. He is worried that it may be his actress neighbour Marianne, but it is not. She is well dressed though and wearing a fancy ring, so robbery was not the motive.
His friend Grenville recognises the ring, and points him towards a young aristocrat who identifies her as his mistress, an ex-actress but now she is married to a boring barrister. Fascinated by the oddity of her life, Lacey gets drawn into the investigation, centred around the house of ill repute, the Glass House.
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This one spent a bit of time milling about, repeating the seemingly unsolvable issue with the Brandons. He also gets himself into more trouble with more ladies... and with the series antagonist Mr Denis who would love him to investigate and get the Glass House shut down, as it is not owned by him.
Lacey's abrasive ways generally annoy people, but he is starting to gain some allies. Grenville has lent him a footman, ostensibly to train as a valet, but really to keep an eye on him.
I do wish he'd get over Louisa, though. And perhaps bother to find his own missing wife and daughter?
3 stars -
Loved the mystery. And that's what the four stars are for. But after three books in this series I am still unsure if I loved the hero, Captain Lacey. Much has been said about his honour but it seems to be selective, depending on the persons he's with and the situations he's in.
His investigation, while intriguing, is a bit farfetched. Why would potential witnesses (some are Lords who are far above his station) readily cooperate with someone who's not authorized to do the job. And it's hard to understand his obsession to avenge dead, murdered women many of whom are strangers to him, but couldn't or didn't want to pursue finding his missing wife and have closure. And I don't understand the loneliness and melancholy. He maybe poor but he has good circle of friends and great connections in high places. -
The last couple books I read were serious non-fiction, so it was time to indulge my guilty pleasure for Regency murder mysteries. Captain Lacey is enlisted to help find the murderer of a young woman of wealth who is pulled out of the Thames. Suspicion falls equally on her husband and her lover, but there may yet be another candidate. The woman had some kind of connection to The Glass House, a place where very wealthy gentlemen could purchase the vice of their choice. Captain Lacey's honor is matched only by his temper, but he manages to survive his investigation to take a job at a school in Berkshire. So #4 in the series will be set outside of London. Looking forward to it.
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Captain Lacey again gets involved with the death of a young lady when he as requested to view the body of a woman pulled from the Thames. The thought is that she might have been the actress that lived in the flat above him, but that was not the case. His involvement in discovering the killer gets him attending a demonstration of laughing gas, and into notorious "Glass House" where all forms of debauchery for the well to do are offered. Friendships are in danger and further killings occur but and answer is found in the end and Lacey is off to a new job. (I have previously read book #4 so it is #5 next)
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The Glass House is book 3 of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries. A very fast paced mystery thriller with multi levels of intrigue with the indomitable Captain Lacey... a hero you can’t help but fall in love with. I am in awe of how how the many layers of these mysteries all come together. You may think you have it figured out, but you probably won’t until the last page or so. They are like a tapestry full of the clues and suppositions that all come together at the very end! Masterful regency mystery! 😍
