After the recent spate of lackluster histroms that were trying to do various spy and mystery related things, I was pining for Will Darling. Enter Chirp audiobooks with a well-timed deal on the series bundle, and before you could say Lord Arthur Aloysius Kimberly de Brabazon Secretan, I had the dulcet tones of Cornell Collins narrating my favorite KJ Charles competence porn. The fun of re-reading this for the umpteenth time is spotting all the signs of when Kim is being an utter shit, and all the signs of when he’s not. With the knowledge from the later books, it’s like getting Kim’s point of view embedded within Will’s point of view, learning to read Kim as Will does, which is a feat to pull off. A masterwork of plot and character that ticks like a Swiss watch, and has no right to be as fun and moving as it is.
My favorite KJ Charles yet.
I should probably wait till the end of the trilogy to make declarative statements, but there’s WWI spies and bookshops and gentle friendship despite odds and this is as far into my wheelhouse as you can get until, like, sheep herding or Belgium is involved. Oh wait, Belgium is involved. It’s my favorite plot structure too, and my favorite types of characters. Not sure who I like best, actually: Will, Kim, Phoebe. (It’s Will, but the others do have a chance at the title, which says something.)
So, yes. Her best yet, my favorite yet, and I say that as someone who just re-read Band Sinister. I can’t wait for more.
“Thanks for the inheritance, Uncle,” he said into the shadowy silence of the books. “It’s a treat.”