The Masque of the Black Tulip

Finding True Love Was Never So Dangerous.

Two hundred years ago, secret documents so sensitive they could alter the course of history were stolen from a courier with the London War Office.  At the scene of the crime, the victim was left a curious note containing only a small black symbol pinned to his chest.  Authorities were baffled.  It took two centuries for a young American history student, Eloise Kelly, to uncover the missing pieces to the puzzle.

As Eloise reads from old an old codebook, she discovers that the Black Tulip, the deadliest spy in Napolean's arsenal, has returned to England with a terrifying mission.  Only a pair of star-crossed lovers stand in the way of the Black Tulip.  But will stopping the Black Tulip's secret mission cost them their lives, or even worse, their love?

Have you ever read a book that you just couldn't put down? Well, this is the second book in a little over a week that I've read in one sitting.  I'm losing sleep but I'm not complaining, I'm not allowed to according to the husband.


In this book we  find Eloise and Selwick in the ancestral home so she can do research on the Pink Carnation, there she finds some correspondence that mentions the Black Tulip, an infamous spy for Napolean.  At this point of the story Miles and Henrietta enter, and I was hooked... Miles and Hen are Richard's best friend and younger sister, they have deep feeling for each other but they just do not know how deep those feelings are until they are both in jeopardy.


This book had a little bit of everything, historical fiction, romance, and spy intrigue (not as much as the first book).  As much as I enjoyed the first book, I like this one more.  I found Miles and Hen more compatible than the previous couple, they had a sweetness that was endearing or it could have been just them being such great friends.


On the identity of the Black Tulip, I had a few guesses along the way, but in the I was completely
I was wrong.  Ah well...


The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig (5/5) Historical Fiction; Dutton Adult (12/2005); Series: # 2, The Pink Carnation; Favourite Reads; Library; Books 2012 (12);