‘Shades Of Deception’ By Jacqueline Jacques is a book in the Archie Price Edwardian Mystery series, the third to be exact, but my first foray into the Archie Price world of 1903. I began the book with a little trepidation, hoping I could fully enjoy this story. I really needn’t have worried, I was soon up to speed with the characters and what was happening.
The year is 1903 and Archie, his stepdaughter and a few more people are worried about a number of missing girls, they decide to attempt to see what has happened. Then upon the discovery of a body, Archie becomes more persistent due to the missing being female and all the vulnerabilities of being women come to the fore of his mind.
What I really loved about Archie was his forward-thinking concerning women. He is very frustrated for Clara his stepdaughter and is not at all keen on the fact that women are the property of men and so able to be used in any way a man sees fit. This made him a lovely man to me. The time this is set in all men usually just enforced the traditions of the time and to read a book with one normal man in was fabulous. Archie is a man of strong emotions as the point on women shows us, and these emotions and ideas can make him fallible too, I think it makes him human as no one is truly perfect. Along with Archie and his opinions of how women should be treated we see the suffrage movement being highlighted, independent women who are fighting for their rights at this time, no book set around this period would be completely true to the time if there is no mention of the Suffrage Movement, so I was extremely pleased to see its inclusion.
I found the story to be an extremely immersive experience. There is so much detail involved. It made me feel I was back there in the middle of the investigations with the tension that was kept up and the quality of the writing made the period feel very authentic, a great achievement for me.
I was so interested in Archie’s family and friends who appear in abundance and found their characters all interesting especially when you mix them all together and they become a strong investigative force. I am hoping to start from the first book when I am able in order to discover more about this man who I feel is ahead of his time.
Thank you to Random Things Tours and the publisher for my copy of the book to write this review today.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 