Teaser Tuesday + Blog Tour Review: India Black by Carol Carr

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page

Share two "teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists!


This week my teaser comes from India Black by Carol Carr, a fun Victorian mystery/adventure with an unconventional and thoroughly entertaining heroine. If my teaser intrigues you, read on for my review, and come back tomorrow for a Guest Post by the author and a Giveaway! From page 26:


     It's amazing what a woman can do if only she ignores what men tell her she can't. If I do say so myself (and I seldom refrain from doing so), I'm a deuced fine shot, and if anyone feels inclined to meddle with me, he can expect some hot lead for his hubris.

And because I couldn't resist,

this one from page 54:

     "Just keep the conversation to a minimum," I advised, "and if anyone questions whether you're really a Bulgarian countess, open your dress and show 'em your tits." In my business, that's sound advice in any number of circumstances.

From the Back Cover:

When Sir Archibald Latham of the War Office dies from a heart attack while visiting her brothel, Madam India Black is unexpectedly thrust into a deadly game between Russian and British agents who are seeking the military secrets Latham carried.

Blackmailed into recovering the missing documents by the British spy known as French, India finds herself dodging Russian agents-and the attraction she starts to feel for the handsome conspirator.

My Thoughts:

I was hooked on India from page one. She's a fantastic character, full of wit and wisdom gleaned from a life in London's underbelly. She's a gun-toting, parasol-wielding, self-made woman; totally sure of who she is and completely unapologetic. All business, all the time. Always looking out for the best interests of India Black. But don't let her fool you into thinking she doesn't have any feelings, though she'd never admit that to you.

Yes, India's doing just fine: her business is successful, she keeps one eye on her girls and her profit margins and the other on the police and the do-gooding minister who keeps coming around. But then one of her regular customers, "Bowser", kicks the bucket under her roof. She enlists the help of her favorite pickpocket Vincent, to help her get rid of the body, and just as they're smuggling him from her house wrapped in a rug, a Mr. French appears in the alley and starts asking questions. One of her girls disappears, and India finds herself in real trouble, for it turns out "Bowser" was really quite the bigwig in the War Office, and when her girl disappeared, so did Bowser's briefcase, filled with top secret documents.

India fancies herself a smart chit, so she's none too happy to find she's put herself into a position of being blackmailed to help British intelligence avoid a public scandal and retrieve sensitive military documents before they fall into the hands of the Russians, who are looking for an excuse to provoke the British troops in Turkey. They devise a simple plan for India to retrieve the plans using her feminine charms, but of course, nothing is simple with India, and what was supposed to be an open and shut operation ends up kicking off a dangerous adventure for India, her street urchin sidekick Vincent, and the handsome and infuriating Mr. French. But the indomitable India endures--through kidnapping, breaking and entering, impersonating maids, falling off ledges, chasing spies, and dodging bullets, she never loses her ability to find the humor in any situation, and she still finds the time to concentrate on the important things in life, like coveting her enemy's gorgeous full-length sable coat and matching hat every chance she gets.

This was a light, easy, fun read and overall I really enjoyed it, though I would have liked to see a little more romance develop between India and French. But I absolutely adored India. She's a keeper! I look forward to more adventures with her, and have high hopes for future installments.

My Rating:  4 Stars out of 5

Stop by tomorrow to meet Carol Carr,

and enter to win a copy of India Black!