I had read some stellar reviews of this book which is why I picked it up but I was skeptical that it would be that good. I've read a few books by Jennifer Ashley and while I enjoyed them I was not blown away. Well, I WAS blown away by The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. It's one of the three best historicals I've read so far this year.
There's so much to love about this novel, but for me the character of Ian Mackenzie was the highlight. How often do you see a hero who is actually mentally ill? Ian has Asperger's Syndrome, (which I didn't know until I read the reviews,) which causes him to be unable to meet people's eyes, have a photographic memory, be unable to lie, to take things literally, to be mesmerized by patterns, etc. Ian has spent time in an asylum where he was subjected to what we would consider torture but was considered treatment for his madness in the 19th century. The author does a marvelous job of taking us into Ian's world and showing us why he is a brave and worthy hero. I was so glad that there was no miraculous cure at the end of the book (a device that has ruined books for me before.)
The heroine is also wonderful and unusual, though not so unusual as Ian. Beth Ackerly is the daughter of a French con-man and spent time in a poorhouse as a child. She is also the widow of an impoverished vicar and it was refreshing to find that she actually had a very happy, if brief, marriage. First marriages in romances are so seldom happy, and an astonishing amount of the time they aren't even consummated. After she was widowed, she spent time as a companion to an elderly woman who left Beth her fortune. Beth is far from naive but her past has not hardened her and she shows an amazing amount of patience and understanding with Ian and his brothers (who all have their own problems.)
I haven't even mentioned the fascinating mystery of the book, the marvelous secondary characters (what a surprise Inspector Fellows turned out to be!) and the way Ashley brings the settings of London, Paris and Scotland to life. There is much to praise in the book and nothing I can think of to criticize. If you like historicals, you'll love this original and highly satifying novel.
Fortunately it is the first in a series of four books about the Mackenzie brothers. The next is Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage, which will be released next year.
I'll rate The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie 9.0 out of 10.
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