Never judge a book by its cover. Right? I almost skipped over To Disguise the Truth by Jen Turano based upon its artwork because it looked like a Victorian romance. I have nothing against romances. I used to live and breathe in the genre. Eventually, the plots became too cliched and stale, leading me to take a break. Now I'm stepping back into the genre, but on a book-by-book basis.

To Disguise the Truth is the third installment of The Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency series. Have I read the first and second entries? Nope. I went into this book knowing it's part three of a series. As I already mentioned, the cover didn't appeal to me. I became interested in the novel after reading the blurb.

It's a standalone story, well, not exactly. Upon reading chapter one, I quickly realized there were characters, and unresolved plotlines are holdovers from To Steal a Heart and To Write a Wrong. It's not always the case with Christian historical romances, as many series tend to have individual stories with little to zero continuity, besides from a recurring theme or setting.

To sum things up, the novel begins with Arthur Livingston seeking out the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency to locate a missing heiress, Eugenia, whose family wants to have her legally declared dead, and she will lose her inheritance.

Eugenia isn't missing. Eugenia is Eunice Holbrooke, a partner of the agency. She ran away from her troubled past, hoping it would never catch up to her, but it has caught up with her. To conceal her true identity, Eunice rejects Mr. Livinsgston's case. Instead, she takes on a different assignment, which gets her into a slew of trouble. But she cannot ignore her past forever.

Final Thoughts

I didn't read the previous books but had no problems figuring out who, what, where, why, and how. Jen Turano has a natural talent for writing detailed proses and descriptions, and those talents shine bright in To Disguise the Truth. It has all the ingredients of a gothic sleuth novel, minus the horror. Remember, this is a clean-cut story. Well, as clean as a murder mystery can get. The romance plotline was a little predictable, which is my only issue with the novel.

Overall, To Disguise the Truth is a page-turning romantic mystery from beginning to end.