The body at the tower by YS Lee

Rating : 4,5 / 5

Goodreads : This is another colourful, action-packed Victorian detective novel about the exploits of agent Mary Quinn. At a young age, Mary Quinn is rescued from the gallows and taken to Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls. The school turns out to be a front for a private detective agency. At age 17, Mary takes on her first case (A Spy in the House). In this, the second book of the series, Mary Quinn sets out to uncover the truth behind a suspicious death at St. Stephen's Tower, better known as the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. The accident occurred after hours in a highly public part of town and despite the presence of night watchmen. Mary, disguised as Mark Quinn, becomes a builder's assistant to find out the truth about the body at the tower.

My review : The body at the tower is the second book in the Agency series. I really enjoyed the first one and I liked this one even more. Once again I loved almost everything in this book. The mystery, the victorian era, London, the characters, the plot, the kissing scenes... I had mixed feelings when I started this book. In this second book Mary needs to be disguise as a boy. It felt really weird and I just didn't think it would be credible. But through the book Mary convinced me. I liked the story because it's one of those story that force you to step out of your comfort zone. Mary Quinn is now Mark Quinn and this time she needs to investigate a murder that happened at a building site. Big Ben building site in fact so it was even more awesome to follow the story that evolved around the construction of this magnificent clock tower. She is working on the site as an errand boy. It was really interesting I learned a lot of things about the conditions for workers at the time, where they lived, the lodgings, the pubs and coffee houses. We are immersed in this world of poverty. The other face of London at that time. It reminded me of Dickens books. Some scenes were heartbreaking. For exemple when she discovered where her coworker Jerkins lived. It was even more heartbreaking because it was related to the heroine's history. Mary had a difficult childhood and her life is still hard, she is without any family and still struggling with her chinese origins. The plot was still really great. YS. Lee has a real talent as an author of mystery books. There is always an impressive twist in the end and I loved discovering all the answers of my questions. And above all I loved the characters. Mary and James are such a wonderful duo. And I loved once again that there was their two point of view. I was so happy to see that James was back ! But he broke my heart in this one... He is just returned from India and he had malaria there and is still recovering... Their relationship continues to evolve in this one and I was so excited when I read the parts with the two of them in it. And then the end shattered everything... I can't wait to read the third book now. It just came out last month. I read the summary just after finishing this book and discovered that Mary's next mystery will be in Buckingham Palace involving the royal family ! It sounds awesome right?