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M J Logue
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A Deceitful Subtlety: A thrilling journey through the Restoration (Thomazine and Major Russell Thrillers Book 2) Kindle Edition

by M. J. Logue (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 42 ratings
Thomazine and Major Thankful Russell are back! Perfect for fans of C. S. Quinn, S. G. MacClean and Alison Weir.

How far can you rely on a woman’s intuition…?


1666, London



Thomazine and Major Thankful Russell should be enjoying married life.

With one teething baby and another on the way, life at the newly-rebuilt house at Four Ashes in the Chilterns is never dull, and they’re hoping to put the debauchery of Restoration London behind them.

But then the indomitable poetess Mistress Aphra Behn arrives at their door…

Aphra claims to have promised to marry respectable merchant William Scot, who she met on a previous spying mission in Belgium. But he never turned up for the wedding.

She’s determined to discover his fate – and she wants Thankful to help her search Bruges.

Which may be how married couples behave in sophisticated London society, but there’s no way Thomazine is letting her husband loose on his own with the lovely, flirtatious Mistress Behn.

It looks like the couple will once again have to put domestic bliss aside to unravel this intriguing mystery…

A Deceitful Subtlety is the second book in the Thomazine and Major Russell Thriller series, compelling historical mysteries with a dash of romance, set in seventeenth century England.

‘Thomazine and Thankful Russell live in an era very different to ours, but their passions are the same, which is, I think, what makes this book so compelling. M.J. Logue paints people in words as beautifully as Vermeer created portraits. Each character is an intriguing individual – Aphra Behn is a gem – and the plot twists and turns, with revelations and heart-stopping moments. This all adds up to a book which is a ‘keeper’ on my bookshelf and one I heartily recommend.’ – S. J. Haxton, author of The Pendennis Trilogy

THE THOMAZINE AND MAJOR RUSSELL THRILLER SERIES:
BOOK ONE: An Abiding Fire
BOOK TWO: A Deceitful Subtlety
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  1. Book 2 of 2
    Thomazine and Major Russell Thrillers
  2. Print length
    254 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    August 28, 2019
  5. File size
    1.3 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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There are 2 books in this series.
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07V8P75LZ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sapere Books (August 28, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 28, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.3 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 254 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 42 ratings

About the author

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M J Logue

M J Logue

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Writer, mad cake lady, re-enactor, historian.

Been slightly potty about the clankier side of Ironside for around 20 years, and lists amongst my heroes in this unworthy world Sir Thomas Fairfax, Elizabeth Cromwell and John Webster (for his sense of humour.)

When not purveying historically-accurate cake to various re-enactment groups across the country, M.J. Logue can usually be discovered practising in her garden with a cavalry backsword.

Often to be found loitering, in an ill-tempered manner, at A Sweet Disorder ((www.asweetdisorder.com) - dp along and pass unhelpful remarks!

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
42 global ratings

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Reviewed by Discovering Diamonds
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Discovering Diamonds
This book has received a Discovering Diamonds Review:Helen Hollickfounder #DDRevs"What I especially enjoyed was the subtle detail of life in 1666 in England and Bruges. Ms Logue has a knack of taking her readers into a time-travel experience - we are there, watching the characters live their lives..."
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Helen Hollick
    5.0 out of 5 stars Reviewed by Discovering Diamonds
    Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2019
    This book has received a Discovering Diamonds Review:
    Helen Hollick
    founder #DDRevs

    "What I especially enjoyed was the subtle detail of life in 1666 in England and Bruges. Ms Logue has a knack of taking her readers into a time-travel experience - we are there, watching the characters live their lives..."
    Customer image
    Helen Hollick
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Reviewed by Discovering Diamonds

    Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2019
    This book has received a Discovering Diamonds Review:
    Helen Hollick
    founder #DDRevs

    "What I especially enjoyed was the subtle detail of life in 1666 in England and Bruges. Ms Logue has a knack of taking her readers into a time-travel experience - we are there, watching the characters live their lives..."
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  • Anna B
    4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful combo of intrigue and love
    Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Some authors have the capacity to take their readers by the ears and drag them right into their world. MJ Logue is one such writer, surrounding the reader with a vivid and almost tangible representation of the 17th century. This time, we travel with Ms Logue to Bruges where heroine Thomazine Russell and her husband, Thankful Russell, find themselves embroiled in a sinister story of spies and murder.
    I have been in love with Thankful Russell since I first met him in MJ Logue’s Uncivil War series. At the time, he was a young, fanatic and extraordinarily beautiful young man who presented the face of an angel to the world while struggling with black, black demons within—this on account of a singularly abusive childhood. And then his façade was ripped away from him when he suffered a severe injury to his face and head – the monsters within became visible on the outside so to say. MJ Logue’s Thankful is a complicated man and he remains complicated in this book, albeit that twenty years of life have left him wiser and less of a firebrand—at least on the outside.
    Other than the wisdom acquired through the years, Thankful has acquired something far more precious, namely a wife he adores and who adores him right back. Thomazine is not conventionally beautiful. Hair the colour of carrots, a tad too tall, a tad too rangy, but to Thankful she is everything, the one person he cannot do without. Not anymore.
    Thomazine has similar feelings for her husband. But where Thankful is ravaged beauty, Thomazine is well aware of how ordinary she looks, how inexperienced she is, and when yanked out of her normal context, her insecurities grow. It doesn’t exactly help that the deliciously manipulative Aphra Behn seems to have her sights set on Mr Russell, or that even Thomazine’s very proper landlady in Bruges feels she needs to upgrade her wardrobe somewhat, make herself prettier, like.
    Soon enough, Thomazine has other things to worry about. Like the fact that someone tries to knife her husband and that Ms Behn attempts to trick Thomazine into spying on one particular member of the exiled English community in Bruges. The plot thickens, as they say…
    While on the surface A Deceitful Subtlety is a book about intrigue featuring Regicides, exiled Roundheads and a determined spymaster in the shape of Ms Behn, it is also a story about just how vulnerable love makes us. And when death threatens first Thankful, then Thomazine, that vulnerability is further reinforced.
    Yes, there were some passages that dragged somewhat and the odd occasion of confusion where this reader had to flip back and re-read. But all in all, Ms Logue delivers a beautifully wrought story, populated with people who, I swear, MUST be real. I look forward to the next instalment!
    4.5 stars
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  • R.K.Corbitt
    4.0 out of 5 stars More,please
    Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I really enjoyed this book for my usual reasons..I love the historical period, and the actual characters of this series. My only impatience with this particular novel was the incessant crying of Thomazine and the seeming uncertainty of maturity...is she the "strong, Essex daughter of her mother", or a chronically weeping pregnant 22year old? This confusion didn't keep me from enjoying the book, but I found it annoying at times. I Had the pleasure of meeting this couple in a Christmas Short story before I found the books...That version of both characters earned my affection immediately! I can't wait to read more of their adventures.
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  • CJ-MO
    4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars Well-written historical novel set during the Restoration period
    Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2019
    Thomazine and Major Thankful Russell are enjoying their life with their baby and are anticipating the arrival of their second child. Then an old friend of Thankful arrives and says a man who she was supposed to marry didn’t show up for the wedding. The poetess Aphra Behn asks for Thankful’s help in finding William Scot, who she met on a previous spying mission in Belgium. Thomazine doesn’t trust Aphra and says she will accompany the two of them to Belgium. It’s soon apparent Aphra is keeping secrets, but neither Thomazine nor Thankful realize just how dangerous their mission will be.

    This book takes place in June 1666 during the Restoration period in England, and is the second book in the series. I like the characters of Thomazine and Thankful and the love they have for each other. Although the story takes place in the 17th century, their love story is timeless. I am not very knowledgeable about this time in history, but in the first book it didn’t matter. The book had a murder mystery and a love story at its center, so the author’s note (which I read first) caught me up with what I needed to know to understand the story. In this book, political intrigue takes center stage and my lack of knowledge about this time in history was a definite disadvantage. The plot didn’t grab me and on top of that, there were too many scenes in the book that didn’t move the story forward. The middle of the book was hard for me to get through, but luckily things picked up after that.

    There is another informative author’s note at the end of this book which is helpful. I learned the character of Aphra is based on a real person who sounds like an interesting person. Unfortunately, I didn’t care for the fictional version of Aphra and even when Thomazine and Thankful saw the good in her, I couldn’t connect with her. M.J. Logue is a very good writer, though, and this book is very well researched. Thomazine and Thankful are often quite witty in their dialogue and those conversations are entertaining. This is a well-written book, and I like how everything turns out in the end. There is a little too much history and not enough mystery for my taste, but I would still recommend the book for fans of this author.

    I received this book through the courtesy of Sapere Books. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • LynnBryant1803
    5.0 out of 5 stars History, Mystery and Romance in Restoration Times
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    A new book by M J Logue is always a joyous event, and the latest adventure for Major Thankful Russell and his wife Thomazine is no exception to this rule.

    We find the Russells enjoying married life at the newly-rebuilt Four Ashes, with their small son. Thomazine is expecting their second child and Thankful is preparing to tiptoe his way through the emotional minefield that is a pregnant Thomazine, when their lives are disrupted by the arrival of the poetess Aphra Behn who seems to have mislaid her husband-to-be somewhere in Belgium.

    This second book in the Russell series is a headlong tumble into intrigue, espionage and murky canals in seventeenth century Bruges, as Thankful and Thomazine are pulled into another mystery. As always, there is a astonishing amount of historical detail, drawn with such a light touch that it forms a perfect backdrop to the story without ever weighing it down.

    Ms Logue populates the book with a host of characters who range from the comic to the truly appalling and includes the worst dog in Europe, with whom I am already in love. The story moves at a good pace and is satisfyingly pulled together, and the dialogue is clever and often very funny. I particularly love the author’s gift for finding the bare bones of a historical story and weaving fact and fiction together until it is hard to know where one ends and the other begins.

    But the joy of these books are the two main characters. Thankful and Thomazine Russell are real enough to walk out of the pages and have a conversation with. Ms Logue has created two believable people, with all their doubts, uncertainties and downright irritating qualities. They are likeable, human, witty and touching and I love both of them and will always want to read more about them.

    This is an excellent historical mystery series, and I would recommend them to anybody. Brilliant.
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  • Sue O
    5.0 out of 5 stars Restoration intrigue
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This book wears its historic background lightly and the story and characters thrill and engage. A good read and made me want to know more.
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