The Love Remedy

Everett (“Secret Scientists of London”) starts a new series with the story of a Victorian woman apothecary who hires a private investigator to help her gain back her stolen formularies and prove that her erstwhile suitor committed theft. It is not going to be as easy as it looks. Lucy Peterson might be a brilliant scientist, creating cures for coughs and the croup, but she is not fully on top of the dispensing business and its endless ledgers. Plus, her siblings have agendas of their own that further complicate her work. Hiring the grumpy Jonathan Thorne, a boxer turned investigator, is a good step in the right direction, but he comes with history—and a daughter—that adds to the chaos over which Lucinda struggles to reign. Slowly the two start to trust and help each other, but Thorne’s investigations prove deeply troubling and begin to net more than a thief—they threaten the very foundations of Lucy’s world, not to mention her rather bruised heart.