An Honorable Deception is the third in Roseanna M. White’s Imposters series about an aristocratic English pair of siblings in the early 1900s whose father left them nearly penniless. One of the father’s extravagant expenditures was a circus, whose residents now make their home at the Fairfax tower and whose staff taught the siblings, Yates and Marigold, skills to help them in their venture as private investigators

Yates heads to the church of a friend, James, who allows him to conduct interviews with potential clients in the confessional booth. Yates poses as “Mr. A” with an accent, Scottish this time. A “Miss B” on the other side of the booth asks him to help find her ayah, Samira. Miss B had been raised in India when her father was a viceroy there. Samira was with the family until they moved back to England, and since then she has traveled back and forth in several similar situations. Miss B. and Samira have remained close and meet whenever Samira is in town. But Samira missed their scheduled meeting, and so did a friend who was supposed to give Miss B. some news.

As Mr. A. and Miss B talk, they hear banging doors and hurried footsteps. Before Yates can stop her, Miss B leaves the confessional, says, “You!” and is shot three times.

Yates is in danger of blowing his cover, but he has to help Miss. B. As he leaves the confessional, the men have gone, and he discovers Miss B. is none other than Alethia Barremore, daughter of one of London’s leading families.

James and Yates bring Alethia to the Fairfax’s London home for her safety, fearing her attackers would find her in a hospital. As she slowly recovers, they learn more of her story and start looking into her case.

Also with the Fairfax siblings is a longtime friend, Lavinia Hemming.Yates had loved Lavinia when they were teenagers, but she developed scarlet fever which damaged her heart, leaving her ill for several years. Then when Yates discovered he had no money, he knew her parents would never consent to him asking for her hand. And Lavinia herself seemed totally uninterested in him.

In one of the previous books, Lavinia discovered her mother was a traitor who threatened her life, her father’s and Yates’. Her mother was killed, leaving Lavinia to recover from the disillusionment of her deception. With her father away, Lavinia accompanies the Fairfax siblings to their Northumberland tower, where she accidentally learns that they are the Imposters. She recruits herself into the group to help.

Their investigation turns out to be involve more than a missing ayah as they uncover some of society’s seedier secrets.

I don’t want to spoil the story, but some readers would want to know the last half of the book shares details of child abuse and sex trafficking. However, nothing explicit is shown.

As almost always, I loved Roseanna’s story. Though dealing with a serious subject, there are moments of lively banter. And Lavinia and Alethia wrestle with several emotional issues in the wake of their parents’ sins.

A fun surprise in this book was the appearance of Barclay Pearce from Roseanna’s Shadows Over England series about a group of street kids who form their own family.

There’s an interview with Roseanna about this new book here. I assume this is the last of the Imposters books–Roseanna’s series all seem to form groups of three. If so, I’ll miss these characters.

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