I liked this book very much. I loved the believable characters, and historical details felt authentic.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Shades Of Deception By Jacqueline Jacques is a book in the Archie Price Edwardian Mystery series, the third to be exact, but my first foray into the Archie Price world of 1903. I began the book with a little trepidation,hoping I could fully enjoy this story. I really needn't have worried, I was soon up to speed with the characters and what was happening.
The year is 1903 and Archie,his stepdaughter and a few more people are worried about a number of missing girls, they decide to attempt to see what has happened. Then upon the discovery of a body, Archie becomes more persistent due to the missing being female and all the vulnerabilities of being women come to the fore of his mind. What I really loved about Archie was his forward thinking concerning women. He is very frustrated for Clara his stepdaughter and is not at all keen on the fact that women are the property of men and so able to be ised in anyway a man sees fit. This made him a lovely man to me. The time this is set in all men usually just enforced the traditions of the time and to read a book with one normal man in was fabulous.Archie is a man of strong emotions as the point on women shows us, and these emotions and ideas can make him fallible too, I think it makes him human as noone is truly perfect.Along with Archie and his opinions of how women should be treated we see the suffrage movement being highlighted, independent women who are fighting for their rights at this time, no book set around this period would be completely true to the time if there is no mention of the Suffrage Movement, I was extremely pleased to see its inclusion
I found the story to be an extremely immersive experience. There is so much detail involved.It made me feel I was back there in the middle of the investigations with the tension that was kept up and the quality of the writing made the period feel very authentic, a great achievement for me.
I was so interested in Archie's family and friends who appear in abundance and found their characters all interesting specially when you mix them all together and they become a strong investigative force. I am hoping to start from the first book when I am able in order to discover more about this man who I feel is ahead of his time.
Thank you to Random Things Tours, NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of the book to write this review today.

An excellent historical mystery, gripping and highly entertaining.
Well researched and vivid historical background, excellent historical background and a solid mystery that kept me guessing.
I want to read other book in this series.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This Edwardian murder mystery starts off with an eerie scene of a body being buried secretly, and we're then quickly transported to another set, one year later.

It's 1903, and I truly enjoy books set in this period, or around this period to be more precise. The writer has definitely painted a vivid picture of life back then, through character descriptions, the location description, the general living conditions... The dialogues were spectacular! Although I had some difficulty understanding certain characters, due to the difference in the language used back then and now, I thought it was very clever of the writer to do so. It only added to the characters more and to the whole atmosphere.

The themes covered here are everything from loss, sexual assault, family, love, suffragette movement and so much more. It's all interwoven seamlessly into the story, so we're still following the plot, but the threads that curl off from the main story gives us a concrete setting and more details.

The main character, artist and painter, accidentally police-assistant Archie is a kind, loving, heart-warming character, and a multi-dimensional one at that. He's also a son, a father and a friend, and he's had my heart from the very first page he was in. Not to forget, his love interest, Polly. They add this love element to the story, without it overtaking or overshadowing the plot. I was itching for more Archie and Polly moments and when I got them, it ended with a smile on my face.

The writing is very atmospheric, and it's very easy to get lost in the descriptions. We followed several different mystery cases, and although I could guess the outcome of the main mystery, I was intrigued to know more about other cases. I am glad that it wasn't just one mystery that we followed, but several ones, and it just made the story that much more interesting.

I loved how the writer took the time to paint a picture of both women fighting for their rights, and of men who thought that women had no right to think or breathe if men didn't allow them so. It was unnatural, almost wicked to want the same rights as men.

I would really love to recommend this book to anyone who loves a good murder mystery, which isn't too grim and dark, and still has a lot of heart-warming moments and lovable characters to look forward to. I'd also gladly read more from the Archie Price series at any time!