Narrated by Corrie James
When the Rogue Returns is the second book in Ms Jeffries series The Duke’s Men, which began with What the Duke Desires. In it, we were introduced to Victor Cale, who turned out to be a long-lost cousin of the hero, the Duke of Lyons. This is Victor’s story, and we pick it up a few months after the events of book one with Victor, now living in London and openly acknowledged as part of Lyons’ family, feeling restless and in want of something to do. He approaches Dominic Manton, of Manton Investigations (the company who tracked him down in the previous story) to ask him for a job, believing his experience as a soldier and later as an agent of the Sûreté make him qualified for a position as an investigator.
Dom assigns him a case in Edinburgh, the sort of “digging up dirt” case which is their bread and butter but which Dom is nonetheless none too keen on. Manton’s has been approached by the dowager Baroness Lochlaw to look into the background of the “grasping harpy” who has attracted the attention of her son, and – presumably – to find out something unsavoury which she can use to separate him from the object of his affections.
When Victor learns that said object is a widow named Sophie Franke, a woman who makes her living designing and making jewellery, his interest in the case takes on a completely different complexion. Ten years previously and after only a week of marriage, his young wife, Isabella, deserted him following the theft of a diamond parure belonging to the Dutch royal family. Victor has never told anyone of his marriage, but has continued to search for Isa at every opportunity – and can’t believe his luck. Franke was his mother’s maiden name, the widow proclaims herself to have been married to a soldier – and how many other women can there possibly be who possess her talent for cutting gems?
Victor travels to Scotland immediately, and sure enough, the Mrs Franke he has been employed to investigate is indeed his missing wife. The two are naturally highly suspicious of each other, as each has spent the last decade believing that they had been deserted, courtesy of the web of lies spun by Isa’s sister and brother-in-law, who were actually responsible for the theft. Fortunately, the suspicions and misunderstandings are not allowed to continue for too long, as Victor and Isa begin to work out the truth and to realise that despite the heartbreak they suffered, and the trust issues they are still dealing with, they want to remain together.
While the story is well-written and fast-paced with plenty of sexual tension between Victor and Isa and a devious twist on the part of Isa’s scheming relatives towards the end, I found it difficult to get past the whopping coincidence at the beginning which set things into motion. I was also less than convinced by the characterisation of Victor who seemed to me to be defined almost completely by resentment and suspicion. I was well over half-way through the story when I realised that I had no real concept of who he was, even after he’d finally told Isa the truth about his past and his relationship to the Duke of Lyons. If this was a deliberate technical device on the part of the author – the reader finding out about Victor at the same time as Isa does – I can understand it, but it is no less frustrating for that. Isa is a more well-rounded character and I liked the way she had developed from the timid girl we met at the beginning of the book into a confident, independent woman.
I thoroughly enjoyed Corrie James’ narration of the previous book, and confidently expected to do the same here. I wasn’t disappointed. Her narration is very clear and well-paced and every character is clearly delineated by use of tone, timbre and register. She has a naturally deep, mellifluous voice which means she is able to portray male characters convincingly without sounding as though she has to strain to maintain the lower pitch. What I said before about Victor’s being defined by mistrust and resentment is perfectly reflected in his speech, which is frequently clipped and hard-edged. Isa is more softly spoken, and is given a slight, but obviously Dutch-influenced accent, which was consistent and well-maintained throughout. There were a few occasions where it did sound a little odd – when certain sibilants were elongated for no reason I could discern, but for the most part Ms James performs it perfectly. It is much more difficult to give a character a hint of an accent than it is to give them a full-blown one, and it’s something she has done very well in both books in this series. Isa’s despicable brother-in-law is given harsh, heavily-accented, guttural tones which, while appropriate for the character, struck the one false note in the narration by going just a little bit over the top.
In addition to the almost-Dutch accents, Ms James has also to perform a number of characters who are Scottish – such as Lady Lochlaw, her son and Isa’s partner. One again, she rises to the challenge and delivers another set of distinctly and appropriately voiced characters, complete with varying degrees of Scottish accent.
Although I had a few reservations about the story, I did enjoy it – just not as much as I’d hoped, given that I gave the first book an A- for content. The elements that worked, such as the rebuilding of the trust between Victor and Isa, the developing romance featuring the sweetly nerdish Lochlaw and the scheming of Isa’s relations couldn’t quite make up for the lack of depth to the characterisation and the fact that the plot hinged on a massive contrivance. With all that taken into account, however, I am still giving When the Rogue Returns a qualified recommendation, mostly due to another superb performance by Corrie James. If you’re someone who likes to listen to every book in a series, then I’m sure you will find things to enjoy in this, even though it’s not as strong as the first book. I certainly intend to stick with The Duke’s Men, and will be picking up the third book later this year.
Caz
Narration: A-
Book Content: B-
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: Minimal
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Tantor Audio
When the Rogue Returns was provided to AudioGals for review by Tantor Audio.
