When Jane St Giles, Lady Sherringham, discovers that her good friend Del has vanished, she has to try to find her. Del's husband has been violent toward her, and Jane knows that he forced Del to attend 'The Club,' a secret gentlemen's club. Jane goes there to try to find out what may have happened to Del, and bumps into Del's brother, Lord Wickham, who has returned from India. Jane and Wickham were childhood friends, but their lives moved in separate ways
- Jane married (and was then widowed), and Wickham gained a reputation as a rake.
Jane and Wickham begin to investigate together, both at the Club and elsewhere. They believe Del may have been locked away somewhere, but they have few leads. As they uncover the seamy underworld of London together, their childhood friendship rekindles.
But there are shocks in store for Jane, and she may have to re-evaluate what she knows of Wickham's character.
The Club is enjoyable in terms of the
central mystery and the variety of settings in London. What doesn't work so
completely are the scenes in the club. They feel like they are written almost entirely for the titillation of the reader and don't serve any real
narrative purpose. Both Christian
(Wickham) and Jane are likeable in terms of their characters, but I had to suspend belief occasionally in terms of historical accuracy. It's a reasonable read but not something I am likely to turn to again.