A Noble Scheme is the second novel in Roseanna M. White's Imposters series. The first book, A Beautiful Disguise, established that The Imposters were a private investigation firm in the early 1900s. Siblings Yates and Marigold Fairfax learned that their father's spendthrift ways had left no money. One of his whimsical purchases had been an entire circus which stayed at the estate when not traveling. The circus performers and animals became close friends of the Fairfaxes. Yates and Marigold had learned acrobatics, theatrics, and other performance tricks from them. They decided to use these skills to support themselves and their circus friends by maintaining their place in society and secretively, in disguise, investigating matters for high-end clientele.
However, in A Nobel Scheme, a waiter comes to them--someone who could not afford them. Yet when they hear that his son has been kidnapped, mistaken for his almost identical wealthy cousin, the team accepts the case pro bono.
Gemma Parks is also part of the Imposters. She writes a society column as G. M. Parker and fills in however she can. She keeps her ears open in society functions and sometimes masquerades as Marigold so Marigold can look for clues.
Graham Wharton is the Fairfaxe's distant cousin who came to live with them when his parents died. He's an architect who can help the Fairfaxes find tunnels or keeps or hiding places in old houses.
Graham and Gemma had grown up together and fallen in love. But in the last book, they were estranged. Several references were made to what had happened between them, but that situation wasn't explained until this book. It's a pretty big reveal, so I won't spoil it.
Gemma avoids Graham as much as she can, but they try to put aside their differences for the cases they are working on. This particular case throws them together more than normal. Graham hopes to win Gemma back, but she can't forgive him. He, in turn, blames God. He acknowledges his foolishness in what happened, but God could have prevented it.
I love that this series is different from the usual historical fiction fare. The themes of faith and forgiveness are woven in naturally. Roseanna is one of my favorite authors, and this book didn't disappoint.
Some of my favorite quotes:
The more she wrote for herself, the more herself she became.
Words were wily things—but they were miraculous too. They created, they shaped, they breathed life. God had used them to form the universe, and Christ had come as a living Word to write Himself onto the hearts of humankind. Was it any wonder, then, that words had pulled her from the brink of darkness and delivered her, however slowly, back to the Light?
I enjoyed the audiobook nicely read by Susan Lyons. Sadly, the audiobook didn't include any author's notes. But I found this interview in which Roseanna shares how she came to write about nobility hosting a circus and investigating in disguise.
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