A Lark’s Conceit — Lynn Messina

Verity Lark is in a new flap!

Bedeviled by Colson Hardwicke's treatment -- summarily dumping her via tersely worded message! -- Verity Lark is lying awake in her bed seething over his behavior when she hears a floorboard creak. Immediately alert to the presence of a late-night intruder, she deftly thwarts the attack.

Taking her would-be kidnapper captive is easy. Figuring out what he wants with her -- well, that part is tricky and she wonders if it could have something to do with one of her many alter egos. It is baffling, to be sure, but Verity has a plan. Of course she does.

As England's most tenacious gossip and the London Daily Gazette's most dogged reporter, she always has a scheme afoot, and this time it entails allowing her captive to escape so she can follow him. It's the best way to discover what the devil is going on. The ploy works exactly as intended, which is good but also bad because the more she knows, the less she understands.

Somehow, she is at the center of an elaborate plot involving the French embassy, an English spy, and a ghastly murder, and just as she is trying to come up with a way to save herself, Hardwicke turns up to complicate it all.

Welcome to the third installment of the Verity Lark Mysteries, where secrets run deep, and every move could be her last.