The Perfect Poison

Amanda Quick
aka Jayne Ann Krentz

After Lucinda Bromley helps investigate a murder for Scotland Yard, she knows she needs a detective herself. She needs a specialized investigator who can help her on a psychical level. She knew a specialized plant had been stolen from her conservatory. At the murder she just observed, she felt the traces of that plant's poisoning capabilities. She contacts the only agency she believes can help. Caleb Jones runs Jones Investigations. He uses his special psychic abilities to visualize and solve puzzles. He finds connections where no one else guesses they are.

Lucinda knows she may be refused. Her father was accused of killing his partner, then committing suicide. She couldn't believe it, but Victorian London Society does. They also believe she poisoned and killed her fiance. But Caleb listens to her story and agrees to help. First he is fascinated by her psychical ability to detect the property of plants. Secondly, the probable thief is also a doctor who the Arcane Society is trying to apprehend. Third, he discovers she interests him as well. Fourth, he has a problem in his own life that could be life and/or sanity threatening. He wants to help Lucinda before that happens.

She wants daily updates. He agrees. She doesn't expect him to show up before breakfast, though. Caleb soon learns when Lucinda and her cousin have breakfast at the same time. If he shows up then, he'll be fed, too. He also gets to share time with her. She's glad to have him there, too, and finds herself more attracted the more they are together.

Caleb knows the doctor is working with men in the Society. Those men are trying to discover the founder's formula that will enhance their psychic abilities. They are trying to twist powers to their own use to take over the world. The Arcane Society aims to stop the Society. Jones Investigations is the agency charged with finding and breaking up the Society. Now Lucinda seems to be a target of the Society. Caleb has to prevent that.

The Perfect Poison is another novel in the Arcane Society series, and the third one set in Victorian London and the founding of the present day Arcane Society ruling Jones family. Caleb is one of those people who tends to be aloof and withdrawn from Society. He doesn't easily understand other people's emotions. Lucinda is 27 and now a spinster according to Society standards. That gives the character a bit more freedom.

Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle has pulled the Arcane Society and its psychic powers into all timelines of her novels. While each can stand alone, its better to read each time period in order. The later novels refer to people and incidents from earlier stories.

I enjoyed The Perfect Poison. It's typical Krentz in tone and action. Much is predictable, yet there are enough mysteries hidden away to keep the reader's interest. Lucinda is a character with enough depth to hold her own in the romance novel. Even so, this is a lighter romantic suspense, heavy on the romance. Also, Krentz uses this book to pull in one of the ploys she's been using in the Jayne Castle Harmony books. You gotta watch those men who burn too much psychic energy at once...

Notice:  Non-graphic violence, Strong sexual content

Second Sight (Amanda Quick)
White Lies (Jayne Ann Krentz)
Sizzle and Burn (Jayne Ann Krentz)
Silver Master (Jayne Castle)
The Third Circle (Amanda Quick)
Running Hot (Jayne Ann Krentz)
Dark Light (Jayne Castle)
The Perfect Poison (Amanda Quick)
Obsidian Prey (Jayne Castle)
Fired Up (Jayne Ann Krentz) (Dreamlight Trilogy)
Burning Lamp Amanda Quick) (Dreamlight Trilogy)
Midnight Crystal (Jayne Castle) (Dreamlight Trilogy)
In Too Deep (Jayne Ann Krentz) (Looking Glass Trilogy)
Quicksilver (Amanda Quick) (Looking Glass Trilogy)
Canyons of Night (Jayne Castle) (Looking Glass Trilogy)
Copper Beach (Jayne Ann Krentz)