This is the second in the Mary Quinn YA mystery series.

The premise of the series, set in 1850s Victorian England, is that women, particularly in the servant class, are almost invisible to high society, and women in general, regardless of station, are never suspected of being any real threat. This makes them perfectly suited to take positions (maids, companions, governesses, etc.) in which they can make discreet inquiries and from which they can observe and investigate without arousing suspicion. Mary Quinn, rescued by and trained in the secretive investigative agency housed in Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls, is clever, fierce, and ambitious.

Lee continues Mary's story six months after the last book (A Spy in the House) left off. This second book deals with a bricklayer on a job site falling to his death under suspicious circumstances. Mary’s assignment is to infiltrate the building site for Big Ben (the clock tower of the title) and gather information. As an 18-year-old female of small stature, she can pass, with some effort, as a young boy of 12, and presents herself as a dogsbody to the job site’s foreman. Was the death truly an accident? Or, is there something more sinister going on?

The story is told primarily from Mary’s point of view. Through her eyes we get a vivid description of London in the 1850s, from the relative opulence of a hot bath to the abject squalor and desperate working conditions of the labour classes. This peek into the realities of life at that time was very interesting and added to the richness of the story.

The mystery has a clean, well-woven plot. There are no cheats and the resolution is satisfying. The characters are vividly drawn and capture our interest. We see the return of an old character, and are introduced to an engaging new one (whom I hope will appear in the next book!). The occasional use of period terminology (“a box of lucifers” = matches) also adds interest.

Quinn is a strong, intelligent, and resourceful female protagonist. Written with integrity, Lee has her experience suitable levels of uncertainty and indecision when she is confronted with making tough choices. Though aimed at a YA audience, this book has enough story that it will hold an adult’s interest.

As with the first book, I burned through the book in one sitting and couldn’t wait to pick up the next in the series (The Traitor in the Tunnel) to see what new adventure Mary will get into! A great, fun read.
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Another fun historical mystery with Mary Quinn, this time investigating a mysterious death at a very overdue construction project for Westminster Palace. Mary disguises herself as a boy and returns to her hardscrabble roots in the impoverished parts of London. The mystery resolves in the final tenth of the novel, and while there are threads supporting it I didn't pick it out until the characters realized it as well.

I really appreciate having a biracial character in historical fiction (a rarity) who also isn't whitewashed on the cover- some of the complexities of having multiple parts of your identity pop up here, and because this is 1850s England, are quashed down (for now, I assume- feels like a future plot thread to me). ( )

The second novel in “The Agency” series set in Victorian England begins 14 months after the previous book. It is 1859 and Mary Quinn, soon 18, is now a fully-trained member of The Agency, a secret spy ring used by the police as well as private clients. The Agency takes advantage of the stereotype of the meek female servant to their advantage. As the head of the Agency explained in the first book:

“Because women are believed to be foolish, silly, and weak, we are in a position to observe and learn more effectively than a main in a similar position. Our clients employ us to gather information, often on highly confidential subjects. We place our agents in very sensitive situations. But while a man in such a position might be subject to suspicion, we find that women - posing as governesses or domestic servants, for example - are often totally ignored.”

In this installment, Mary is asked to disguise herself as a twelve-year-old boy and go to work as a builder’s assistant on the construction site of the new Houses of Parliament at Westminster, now in its 25th year of work.

[The new buildings were as being erected on the site of a medieval building-complex owned by the Crown and traditionally housing the Parliament that was largely destroyed by fire in 1834. Re-construction (which eventually took 30 years) suffered great delays and cost overruns, as well as the death of both leading architects.]

Mary, cutting off her hair and posing as “Mark,” was sent to the site following the death of a carpenter, John Wick, who fell from the 300-foot-high belfry of St. Stephen’s Tower. The Agency was tasked with monitoring any gossip or talk about the death of Mr. Wick, and to see if any information could be gleaned about both the high rate of accidents at the building site and why the construction was so grossly behind schedule.

Mark had traumatic experiences at the Westminster site from the start, but perhaps nothing compared to her shock at seeing James Easton arrive to do his own investigation. James, now 20 and a civil engineer, had been in India working on railroad construction. Or at least that was what he was meant to do before contracting a bad case of malaria, coming close to death. He was now back in London, and currently without work. Thus Philip Harkness, the site engineer and an old friend of James’ father, asked James if he would provide an “independent” engineer’s report as to the safety conditions on the site, as requisitioned by the First Commissioner of Works. James was concerned he couldn’t be truly “independent” given his connection to Harkness, and insisted he would do so only if appointed by the Commissioner himself and not Harkness. This was promptly accomplished.

James immediately recognized Mary in disguise, and again when he came to see the widowed Mrs. Wick just as Mary was visiting as “Mrs. Anthony Fordham.” Mary came up with a story for James that she was researching a book about the life of the working poor in London, a subject about which she truly held an interest, having been one of them herself.

They collaborated once again, as they did in the first book, to get to the root of the murder and the problems on site, and once again, their feelings for each other were simmering just below the surface (and sometimes above it). But this time, Mary felt she owed James at least some of the truth about herself, risking everything to tell him.

Evaluation: I wasn’t quite so enchanted with this book as the first; for one thing, I couldn’t buy that Mary, an 18-year-old young woman, could so successfully pass as a 12-year-old boy. But the history integrated into the story is interesting, the interaction between James and Mary is delightful, and the intrigue will keep readers turning the pages. I definitely will continue with the series. ( )

The second in Ying Lee's Mary Quinn mysteries. I enjoyed this more than its predecessor, mainly because there was a little less "I can't believe she's really doing that; how stupid is she?" than in the previous book. Or, at least, it didn't annoy me as much since she wasn't actually ordered to not do those things.

Mary, in the guise of a boy, takes on the role of a worker at the construction site of the new Parliament building in order to investigate the death of one of the workers. Of course, things look fishy from the get-go, and then James Easton shows up.

These are fun, if nothing else. They are more romance plots than mystery plots. The mysteries seem to be nothing more than excuses for James and Mary to be thrown together. Though the mystery here was pretty interesting, and kept me guessing as to how things fit together. ( )

A fine example of a wallpaper-historical book. I would love to explain what a wallpaper-historical is butSmart Bitches,Trashy Books does a much better job of it.

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