The Black Swan

Rating:
Summary: Lucie's story in Philippa Carr's brilliant series
Review: Lucie has lived a very unusual life. Through a strange turn of events, she was raised in an "adopted" household with her "adopted" sister, Belinda. She grew up knowing she was not of the same class, and therefore not of the same treatment. Then, unexpectedly, the truth comes out. She is actually the real daughter, and Belinda is the adopted one! All of this was revealed in the previous book in the series "The Changeling". When "The Black Swan" opens, Lucie is the beloved daughter of Benedict Landson, a distinguished politician. Her life is shattered when he is assassinated right in front of her. To make matters worse, her fianc?, Joel, is murdered while on a mission to Africa. She gradually grows away from her tragedy, and becomes more resigned to life. However, she is haunted by the apparition of her father's murderer, whom she helped convict and thus had an indirect hand in his execution. She meets a brother and sister, of whom she grows fond. Eventually, they all live in the same household and strange things begin to happen. Lucie soon realizes that someone is trying to kill her, and will do so soon, unless Lucie can do something to stop it.

I enjoyed this book very much, as I seem to do with all of Philippa Carr's. I did figure out some of the mystery, but I was very shocked with the actual ending. I would recommend reading this after you have read "The Changeling" so that the big surprises from the previous book are not lost.