Eve Silver, Dark Desires

Dark Desires

Eve Silver

Zebra, Dec 2005, $3.99, 352 pp.

ISBN: 0821779664

Desperate Darcie Finch arrives at the East London brothel seeking help. The Madam Mrs. Feather sees Darcie's revulsion when the first male inspects her. Mrs. Feather gives Darcie some money, tells her to never return, and sends her to see Dr. Damien Cole for work. Darcie hugs her sister, who warns her to keep away from Cole's secrets.

While heading to Cole's Curzon Street address, she is almost hit by his horses. He hires her as a maid, but she turns squeamish because inside his carriage is a dead man. Still she needs work and upon seeing her artistic skills he promotes her to the position of his drawing assistant. However, the Cole residence seems sinister, as Darcie learns that a maid has vanished without a trace and another employee has strangle prints on her neck, and creepy resurrectionists arrive with fresh corpses all the time. As Darcie falls in love with her employer, she wonders if he is the serial killer terrorizing London, or is he just someone hiring thugs who kill to insure fresh bodies for Cole's medical research.

This is a terrific Gothic romantic suspense thriller, in which the audience will feel the fears enhanced by the foggy somewhat gloomy atmosphere. Darcie is a classic sub-genre female wondering if the dark brooding man she loves is a killer, while his home, especially his lab, serves as the typical mansion. Though the storyline adheres somewhat to the sub-genre standard, Eve Silver provides a precious Victorian tale that grips the readers from the moment the heroine's sister, the Madam, sends her to Cole and never loosens its grasp until the air is clear.

Harriet Klausner