"late Victorian romantic thriller"

Anthony Stalbridge is highly placed in society even though his family is considered very eccentric. At present his image is tarnished because his fiancée committed suicide and there are rumors that he was breaking off their engagement. Although Anthony is sure she was murdered, he wants to find the killer in the hopes that it was nothing he did or didn't do that caused her demise. He believes Edwin Hastings had something to do with her death and he tries to break into the man's bedroom safe.

Coming out of his Hasting's bedroom is Louisa Bryce who is looking into Hastings investment in a brothel. They meet up with each other and he grabs and kisses her because he hears a guard coming. After they leave, they talk about why they are interested in the same man. Louisa wants to write a story about him and Anthony wants to prove he murdered his fiancée. Later that night he breaks into the safe and finds his fiancée's necklace there as well as proof that the man is an investor in the brothel. As Louisa and Anthony work together to bring Hastings down, they fall in love but she has a dark secret that she hides from everyone and fears when she tells Anthony he will turn from her in disgust.

Taking place in the late Victorian era, THE RIVER KNOWS is a fantastic romantic thriller. Like any Amanda Quick novel, this book is a charmer due to the realistic characters who don't quite fit the society mold. Their amusing antics will have readers chuckling out loud while the support cast moves the plot along quite subtly in a tantalizing tale filled with plenty of action and quite a few surprises.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 27, 2007

Summary

The first kiss occurred in a dimly lit hallway on the upper floor of Elwin Hastings's grand house. Louisa never saw it coming....

Of course, Anthony Stalbridge couldn't possibly have had romantic intentions. The kiss was an act of desperation meant to distract the armed guard from catching the pair in a place they did not belong. After all, Louisa Bryce, in her dull maroon gown and gold-rimmed spectacles, was no man's idea of an alluring female. The only thing the two interlopers have in common is a passionate interest in the private affairs of Mr. Hastings—a prominent member of Society whom they both suspect of hiding terrible secrets. Now, brought together by their ruse, Anthony and Louisa are united in their efforts to find the truth.

Each has a reason for the quest. Anthony's fiancée was said to have thrown herself into the Thames—but Anthony has his own suspicions. Louisa—whose own identity is shrouded in layers of mystery—is convinced that Hastings has a connection to a notorious brothel. When Anthony successfully cracks Hastings's hidden safe—and discovers incriminating evidence—it appears that both their instincts were correct.

Yet Hastings is hiding far more than jewels and ledger books. Bringing him to justice will be more perilous than they anticipate—and their partnership will be more heated than either one expects. For it is not only Anthony's curiosity that Louisa arouses, and the two share something else: a thrilling attraction to danger. . . .