The Masque of the Black Tulip

A Novel

By: Lauren Willig

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

The Pink Carnation, history's most elusive spy and England's only hope for preventing a Napoleonic invasion, returns in Lauren Willig's dazzling, imaginative new historical romance.

The Masque of the Black Tulip opens with the murder of a courier from the London War Office, his confidential dispatch for the Pink Carnation stolen. Meanwhile, the Black Tulip, France's deadliest spy, is in England with instructions to track down and kill the Pink Carnation. Only Henrietta Uppington and Miles Dorrington know where the Pink Carnation is stationed. Using a secret code book, Henrietta has deciphered a message detailing the threat of the Black Tulip.

Meanwhile, the War Office has enlisted Miles to track down the notorious French spy before he (or she) can finish the deadly mission. But what Henrietta and Miles don't know is that while they are trying to find the Black Tulip (and possibly falling in love), the Black Tulip is watching them.

©2005 Lauren Willig (P)2005 Penguin Audio, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and Books on Tape. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Many more will delight in this easy-to-read romp and line up for the next installment." (Publishers Weekly)

This Series is Genius!

This series is genius! If you truly enjoyed the first book and are wondering if you should buy the next one, my recommendation to you would be to go for it. You will not be disappointed. Like book 1, Willig goes back and forth in this book between contemporary and historical fiction. You’ll continue keeping your fingers crossed for Eloise Kelley, while getting to know Henrietta and Miles in a whole new way.

I love the way Willig plays with the social mores of the time period while simultaneously writing about women who seem both capable and smart. She maintains her especially sardonic sense of humor throughout the book. And Kate Reading continues to do a wonderful job as narrator. I not only recommend getting this book, but the other ones in this series. I find it a refreshing take on the romance genre.

The Masque of the Black Tulip

Absolutely fantastic!

Better Book, Better on Audio

I read the first book and was quite disappointed. Glad I decided to give this series another try, this time on audio. Love, love, love. The narrator totally makes this. Helps that I like Henrietta much better than I did Amy, same with Miles (better than Richard). Loved all the characters, even Amy and Richard (in their cameo appearances) are less annoying. The marquis and Lord Vaughn (sp?) were also favorites. The writing niggles have either been edited out in this second book, or bother me less on audio. Funny. Great romance. The mystery element was solid too. Gotta call this one exceptional. The external story was a little more interesting and pertinent in this book too.

Regency romance, just aren't for reading aloud.

This was a pretty good story, but the internal monologue was too much. Sorry but, it is too much for an audiobook. With written books. you can skip the gauche and focus, reread and ponder the good banter.

What? I don’t get this.

This book did not meet any expectation I had. Except for Kate Redding who is always on the mark. It’s not funny. It reads more like two soap operas going on in two different worlds. There is no witty repartee. More like 20 somethings who want a snogging. I’m sorry to have to write such a negative review. If there had been true intrigue, a twist or turn—this is purely a romance novel and NOT a cozy mystery as I was expecting.

disappointing

after listening to the wonderful 'summer country' by the same author the dragged out relationship story was tooooooo repetitive.

Teen romance not spy thriller

After reading the summary I thought this was going to be a historical mystery but this is not so. The start was promising, lots of humor, imaginative chapter headings and the narrator is excellent but after a while the angsty romance takes over and is nauseating! A romance is expected in a historical mystery but there was very little history and NO MYSTERY - the spy intrigue took only a tiny portion of the story and merely consisted of several suspects and thats it.