This one was a little confusing, but that’s entirely my own fault. I did not notice when I got it (used bookstore) that this was the sequel to a book that sounded even more interesting. The blurb sounded great, but I missed the “continuing adventures of” piece, so I spent a lot of the book being a little lost. However, I could still follow and enjoy the main plot.
Captain Heris runs her ship in service of her employer, the cranky and delightful Lady Cecilia. There’s a political plot involving a possibly cloned/possibly damaged prince, and Lady Cecilia is poisoned and left comatose. When her family becomes convinced the Captain poisoned her boss to get the ship (which was left to her in Lady Cecilia’s will), the Captain takes off with her crew to try and solve the mystery and save the day. Her crew is very loyal after the events of the first book, which were apparently very dramatic.
Captain Heris is not the best heroine. She’s stolid and mostly dependable, but she has convenient plot blindness a bit too often. “I feel like there may be something wrong with that crew member…, eh, I’ll deal with it later.” “I think our plan may have some flaws…but it’s too late for that now!” A few questions or a little bit more communication could’ve saved a lot of trouble.
However, it’s a lady captain saving the day, and the other main character is a woman in her 80s, and I am totally down for that. Elizabeth Moon has become a go-to, dependable author, and I will definitely be looking for the first book in this series.