Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling
Tony Cliff
ISBN: 9781626721555
Sequel to Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant (reviewed here and here)
Delilah and Selim's adventures on the continent are cut short by a megalomaniacal officer, landing them in England's high society.
So in the first book, poor Selim was the one who didn't fit in. This time around, Delilah is back home, and she's fundamentally unsuited for English country squire life. I read this with the first season of Downton Abbey fresh in my mind (even though the time-periods are different, the society is very much the same) and I cringed at her continual flouting of social norms, and the diffident but pointed tactful comments by all the other members of society trying to nudge her gently back into an accustomed set of behaviors.
The duo has been performing good deeds on the continent, but they're interrupted by the escalating war between England and France, and when they're forcibly picked up (and then framed for spying) by an over-ambitious redcoat, they find it expeditious to return to England for some damage control. Delilah tries, she really does, but her direct methods don't fit in at all in England, and while Selim's natural diffidence and propriety make him a better fit socially, his utter unfamiliarity with his surroundings (and Delilah's continued inability to explain what is even going on) make him nearly as ineffectual as she is, although slightly less socially problematic.
The whole thing ends with a wild chase and an explosive finale, and ends up with Delilah having made peace with her mother, but also leaving her with her first real long-term enemy.
It JUUUUST came out, and already I want the next one so badly. Uggghhh. Patience is not my virtue.
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