Patricia Rice, Much Ado about Magic

Much Ado about Magic

Patricia Rice

Signet, Jul 2005, $7.99, 384 pp.

ISBN: 0451215915

In 1755 London Lucinda Malcolm Pemroke hides in an alcove of the Royal Art Gallery that displays the infamous painting she drew just to see reactions. Her painting depicts the sinking of a yacht with the heir to Lansdowne on board while his cousin laughs. Everyone assumes that the Prophetess as everyone calls Sinda assumes from her painting that the cousin Trevelyan Rochester murdered his relative to inherit the estate.

Trev has just returned from years overseas planning to find a wife in polite society. Instead he is a pariah the center of a scandal caused by a painting from the artist LMP. Trev confronts Lucinda to withdraw her portrayal, but she is not what he expected. She is stunned to see him as she never met Trev before drawing the picture before the vessel sank. As Trev continues to pursue Sinda in disguise as artist Lucy Jones, they fall in love even while she paints new pictures that begin to clarify what happened to his cousin and one that is not quite finished with him in the nude.

There is much ado about this fine historical fantasy romance with a touch of the amateur sleuth to enhance its magic. Readers will enjoy the relationship between the fey artist and the beleaguered "model" who leans more towards confronting her with his kisses than forcing her to absolve him of the rumors that he murdered his cousin. Sub-genre fans will want to read all the charming Malcolm Magic novels (see THE TROUBLE WITH MAGIC, THIS MAGIC MOMENT, and MERELY MAGIC).

Harriet Klausner