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PERFECT DESIRE
Leslie LaFoy
St. Martin’s, Jan 2005, $6.99, 346 pp.
ISBN: 031298765X
In London, though frightened, Acadian Louisiana resident Isabella Dandoneau visits Lord Barrett Stanbridge to offer him a deal he cannot refuse. Barrett stands accused of killing Isabella’s cousin Mignon Richard, who he had a brief but intimate relationship with until she was murdered; Isabella believes he is innocent and will help prove him so if he assists her in exploring his home where she believes a map to pirate treasure is buried. Isabella further explains that her grandmamma had an affair with Jean Lafitte and that the map would lead to millions.

Though he feels he does not need her assistance, Barrett is intrigued by his visitor who looks very similar in appearance to Mignon, but seems much nicer; he agrees to her deal. As they work together to uncover the map and to find evidence of who really killed Mignon, Isabella becomes a target; however, Barrett will not allow anyone to harm the “Yank” that he loves.

This Victorian romantic mystery is a perfect novel that will elate fans of historical tales who will seek out Leslie LaFoy’s previous two stories from this fine trilogy (see PERFECT SEDUCTION and PERFECT TEMPTATION). The story line grips the audience from the moment that Isabella courageously tenders her transaction until the final altercation. Besides insight into the era, historiographic tidbits from the vantage point of post American Civil War looking back at the Battle of New Orleans (during the War of 1812) impart depth to a fine suspenseful who-done-it romance.

Harriet Klausner

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