This is another colourful, action-packed Victorian detective novel about the exploits of agent Mary Quinn. At a young age, Mary Quinn is rescued fr...
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reviews
Feb 26, 2011
This series is fantastic! I don't read much historical fiction, let alone historical fictions that are mysteries, but I will continue to pick up this series, no doubt about it.
I think the thing that makes this novel so awesome is Mary. She has an excellent voice! You want to read her story, you care what happens to her and you want to help her solve the mystery. I felt a lot more empathy towards Mary this time around.....because of having to face her past as a child growing up on th More...
I think the thing that makes this novel so awesome is Mary. She has an excellent voice! You want to read her story, you care what happens to her and you want to help her solve the mystery. I felt a lot more empathy towards Mary this time around.....because of having to face her past as a child growing up on th More...
Nov 06, 2011
Mara
rated it: 
I cannot say how much I love mystery stories set in Victorian England. The Agency series is a bit earlier in the Victorian era than I especially like reading about, but it isn't too early to make me completely disinterested. As usual, Y.S. Lee terrifically captures London's dark, dank streets with her well-researched history and language. Unlike A Spy in the House (Book 1), her visual descriptions do not bring a Reader's mental eye too close for comfort. And also unlike A Spy in the House, the e
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Aug 30, 2011
Bev
rated it: 
The Agency: The Body at the Tower by Y. S. Lee is the second in a mystery series which follows Mary Quinn and The Agency, an all-female detective unit operating out of Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for girls. In this installment, Mary disguises herself as a poor apprentice builder and a boy to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of a bricklayer at a building site on the clock tower of the Housese of Parliament. Set in the gritty world of the Victorian working-class poor, th
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May 14, 2011
Emily
rated it:
This second book in the Agency series definitely lives up to the high expectations set by the first, which I reviewed here. The lush and vivid historical detail is present, as well as an interesting and engaging mystery and a very poignant and detailed commentary on what life was like for people of various social strata at the time. This is another book that is an excellent rebuttal to folks who would argue that they don't like historical fiction.
Details from the last book, such as t More...
Details from the last book, such as t More...
Dec 06, 2010
Hallie
rated it:
The things that bugged me about the first book - details of Victorian London life being so off they were really irritating - were here again. Lots of little things, use of language that didn't sound right, reactions that seemed totally unlikely or were just there seemingly to explain to other "outsiders" in a way that made it too obvious that the narrator was thinking as an outsider - like a "teetotalling, cliché-spouting, church-going" overseer asking Mary if there was "
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Sep 14, 2010
Nicola
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Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
I want to say The Body at the Tower is even better than book 1 but I think that's because I've just finished reading it. The follow up to A Spy in the House is just as amazingly brilliant as its predecessor. A fast-paced, read-into-the-night Victorian mystery.
Mary Quinn has been sent on assignment this time to go undercover as a young boy. Chopping her hair off and binding her chest tightly her petite half Chinese frame allows her to pul More...
I want to say The Body at the Tower is even better than book 1 but I think that's because I've just finished reading it. The follow up to A Spy in the House is just as amazingly brilliant as its predecessor. A fast-paced, read-into-the-night Victorian mystery.
Mary Quinn has been sent on assignment this time to go undercover as a young boy. Chopping her hair off and binding her chest tightly her petite half Chinese frame allows her to pul More...
Aug 18, 2010
Laura
rated it:
I absolutely adore this series. Mary Quinn (Lang) is a compelling character and the situations she gets into are fascinating for the time the story takes place (late 1800s Victorian Era). This could definitely be an opened-ended series, but as we know, those tend to get tired and tiring.
It's been nearly a year since Mary was asked to work for the Agency and her training has been ongoing. When Mary is asked to dress as a young boy for her next assignment, she takes it one step fur More...
It's been nearly a year since Mary was asked to work for the Agency and her training has been ongoing. When Mary is asked to dress as a young boy for her next assignment, she takes it one step fur More...
Aug 02, 2010
Stephanie
rated it:
WOW.
I loved, loved, loved this book. Of course, I'd already loved the first book in the series - after I read A SPY IN THE HOUSE, I wrote my first-ever piece of author fanmail - but THE BODY AT THE TOWER is just a whole new level of awesome.
It has the same richly-evoked Victorian setting as the first book (with a really interesting cross-section of different social classes), the same lovely writing, and it continues to develop some really fascinating identity issues, as More...
I loved, loved, loved this book. Of course, I'd already loved the first book in the series - after I read A SPY IN THE HOUSE, I wrote my first-ever piece of author fanmail - but THE BODY AT THE TOWER is just a whole new level of awesome.
It has the same richly-evoked Victorian setting as the first book (with a really interesting cross-section of different social classes), the same lovely writing, and it continues to develop some really fascinating identity issues, as More...
Jul 13, 2011
Dorie
rated it:
Mary Quinn is charged in this novel to dress as a 12-year old boy and begin working as an errand boy on the construction site of St. Stephen's Tower. For Mary, dressing as a poor boy and taking to the streets brings back disturbing memories of her childhood when she was a young thief. The history of the Tower and Big Ben is fascinating and had me hitting Wikipedia for more information. I love learning a bit of history while I'm enjoying a good read.
Mary impressed me more in this nov More...
Mary impressed me more in this nov More...
Nov 12, 2010
K.
rated it:
Second in the series, The Body in the Tower continues the intriguing story of Mary Quinn (Lang), an orphaned girl rescued from a death sentence for house breaking by a spy agency run from a Girls' Boarding House entirely run by women in the Victorian age.
Mary is now a full fledged employee of the Agency and is being sent on her first major case...dressed as a boy at a building site where a suspicious death is a clue to a complicated web of graft and bribery.
I almost gave More...
Mary is now a full fledged employee of the Agency and is being sent on her first major case...dressed as a boy at a building site where a suspicious death is a clue to a complicated web of graft and bribery.
I almost gave More...
Dec 02, 2010
Nancy
rated it:
At eighteen, Mary Quinn is almost a full fledged member of The Agency, an all female spy organization. When a man is murdered at the building site for the clock town at the House of the Parliament, The Agency is hired to gather intelligence. Mary agrees to take the case, despite the fact that it will require her to masquerade as a working class adolescent boy, a role which forces her to remember her time living on the streets in poverty. The case becomes more complicated when Mary runs into Jame
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Feb 26, 2011
Audiaa
rated it:
The novelty of the characters and the setting had worn off by this book (second in the series), and what was left was a pretty ordinary mystery. The business nature of the mystery even made it a little boring, and I'm not sure if that would hold the interest of the younger intended audience. They mystery is a little too easy for the characters to solve. Big clues fall out of people's pocket, people talk way too much were others can easily over hear them, and everyone seems clueless to Mary's
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Jan 12, 2011
Cialina (Muggle-Born)
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Review published at Muggle-Born.net
THE BODY AT THE TOWER is another riveting mystery from Y.S. Lee. Mary Quinn goes undercover as Mark, an assistant at a construction site for St. Stephen's Tower. With her hair chopped off and in trousers 24 hours a day, Mary completely embraces her new persona as she tries to uncover the culprit behind the recent murder at St. Stephens. Break-ins, disguises, and other types of espionage ensues.
I honestly was not as interested in the mystery More...
THE BODY AT THE TOWER is another riveting mystery from Y.S. Lee. Mary Quinn goes undercover as Mark, an assistant at a construction site for St. Stephen's Tower. With her hair chopped off and in trousers 24 hours a day, Mary completely embraces her new persona as she tries to uncover the culprit behind the recent murder at St. Stephens. Break-ins, disguises, and other types of espionage ensues.
I honestly was not as interested in the mystery More...
May 22, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
These are fun, but it's the dialogue between Mary and James that I'm most interested in-- sometimes so much so that I found the plot a nuisance to get through. And the treatment of Mary's past thus far? Ack! Sure, I want to read about the dreamy male lead as much as the next girl (perhaps more), but there is so much about the school for girls that isn't discussed and it drives me bananas. Why are no friends mentioned? She's lived there for five years, for crying out loud! Mary's 'half-caste' her
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Mar 02, 2011
Stephanie
rated it:
After having fallen in love with A Spy in the House, I was looking forward to another adventure with Mary and James. While not quite reaching the level of enjoyment that I had with the first book, The Body at the Tower was still a great continuation of the series.
Following a death at St. Stephen's Tower, The Agency assigns Mary to go undercover as an assistant at the construction site. Her goal is to get more information on the circumstances surrounding the accident. Posing as a lady's More...
Following a death at St. Stephen's Tower, The Agency assigns Mary to go undercover as an assistant at the construction site. Her goal is to get more information on the circumstances surrounding the accident. Posing as a lady's More...
Dec 02, 2011
Sabrina
rated it:
London, 1859: A few months after Mary started working as a spy for The Agency she still enjoys her work. She loves the different aspects of her job and that it gives her a chance to lead a good life. Mary's new investigation leads her to a building site where she starts working undercover tarned as 12 year old boy. At the building site mysterious things are going on and after a workman died people start to believe in a ghost.
But is there really or ghost or are humans responsible? With the More...
But is there really or ghost or are humans responsible? With the More...
Aug 28, 2011
Nina
rated it:
The body at the Tower by Y. S. Lee is the second of The Agency series and it certainly didn't disappoint!
Mary Quinn is back but this time under the guise of a twelve-year-old boy working at a building construction site. She is calling herself Mark Quinn as she investigates the death of a bricklayer found on the site.
Lee is amazing! She does it again weaving a complicated and mysterious nineteenth century mystery novels for young adults. For Mary to dress up as a boy is fo More...
Mary Quinn is back but this time under the guise of a twelve-year-old boy working at a building construction site. She is calling herself Mark Quinn as she investigates the death of a bricklayer found on the site.
Lee is amazing! She does it again weaving a complicated and mysterious nineteenth century mystery novels for young adults. For Mary to dress up as a boy is fo More...
Oct 16, 2010
Ruby Scarlett
rated it:
I was really looking forward to reading the second installment in The Agency trilogy. In this book, Mary has to investigate the death of a worker on a construction site & she goes undercover, disguised as Mark. While it was a really enjoyable read, I wasn't as pleased with it as I'd been with A Spy in the House (reviewed here). First of all, I didn't find the plot as engaging as for the first book. In the first book, I'd grown quite fond of reading about the secondary characters and their devel
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Feb 23, 2011
Kamilla
rated it:
I enjoyed the book, and while I hadn't read the first of the series a few things took awhile to sort out with repeat characters. I do have some over all issues with the book. The main character is undercover as a boy in Victorian London... okay cool concept, but a few chapters in she gets a room mate at her boarding house, a grown man. I understand she's undercover, but I also think this is something the Agency would have guarded against, especially since at the beginning they wanted her to sta
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Jul 23, 2011
Sam
rated it:
So this second book in "The Agency" series was not as good as the first. My first thought was 'where is the romance?', it just wasn't there. Sure, Mary & James did do more kissing than the first book but I just wasn't feeling it. And It didn't have me hooked in and wanting to read more like the first one because the intrigue wasn't there either. I picked the book up and put it down a few times before I decided to finish it. I still think I'll read the others in the series when they com
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Aug 23, 2010
TheEagerReaders
rated it:
Y.S. Lee's The Agency 2: The Body at the Tower is the second book in a series of mystery novels following Mary Quinn, a Victorian girl who was sentenced to death at the age of twelve and was fortunate enough to be rescued by a couple of women who run an exclusive school (as well as a secret investigative agency). In the first book, Agency: A Spy in the House, Mary was sent undercover on her first field-training exercise. The second book begins about a year after the first book ended, when Mary
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Feb 09, 2012
Jennifer
rated it:
Originally posted on my blog: http://feministfairytalereviews.blogspot...
With the second book in her historical mystery series, Y.S. Lee continues the fascinating adventures of Mary Quinn, the half-Chinese, half-Irish former thief turned secret agent. Almost a year after her first assignment, Mary has become more confident in her abilities as a member of the Agency and enjoys the adventure involved in her missions. Her latest job requires her to take on the guise of a twelve yea More...
With the second book in her historical mystery series, Y.S. Lee continues the fascinating adventures of Mary Quinn, the half-Chinese, half-Irish former thief turned secret agent. Almost a year after her first assignment, Mary has become more confident in her abilities as a member of the Agency and enjoys the adventure involved in her missions. Her latest job requires her to take on the guise of a twelve yea More...
Feb 05, 2011
cecilia
rated it:
After a great running start from its predecessor, The Body At The Tower definitely keeps the momentum and practically leaps into the realm of a most fascinating Victorian mystery. Y.S. Lee layers the suspense thick as London fog as we follow Mary into the grittier side of life. The story took me to places that I never thought about such as Mary's deplorable lodging arrangements that lacked for privacy, the sad state of affairs for orphaned families, etc. I appreciated the depth of details that Y
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Mar 08, 2011
Linna
rated it:
The second installment in The Agency series is a Sherlock Holmes-esque detective story set during the Victorian time period. The detective herself is a teenage girl, making it an interesting take on what it was like living during this time in history, especially when you're in a disadvantageous position. THE BODY AT THE TOWER is a brilliant combination
The lively characters, romance, and setting were all top-knotch, but for me, the mystery somehow fell flat. Which is important given More...
The lively characters, romance, and setting were all top-knotch, but for me, the mystery somehow fell flat. Which is important given More...
Sep 17, 2011
MaryAnn
rated it:
Three or four stars? So close to a four, but I felt the mystery of the plot lacked enough interest. That said, the character of Mary Quinn is wonderful, the attraction and undisguised love between Mary and tickles our romance bone in just the right way and the Dickensian London descriptions are amazing! This is the second in the series and I must read the first because I'm sure it will be a five. A good Victorian mystery, especially with a young woman protagonist, can't be beat. Higher voca
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Sep 18, 2010
Erin
rated it:
In The Body at the Tower, a bricklayer has fallen to his death from the belfry of St. Stephen’s Tower, which is still under construction. Though the Agency has little knowledge of an active building site and no easy way to penetrate one–the agents are all women and specialize in infiltrating domestic settings as ladies’ companions, servants, and the like–one of the two women in charge accepts the job of investigating this suspicious death.
But how does an all-female agency gain acces More...
But how does an all-female agency gain acces More...
Aug 21, 2011
Linda
rated it:
Book #2 in YS Lee's wonderful new series is another action packed adventure for street urchin-turned proper young lady- turned spy Mary Quinn. I love the London setting of this series and the Victorian setting. In this one, there's a death of a man who fell from the top of the tower of the clock (Big Ben) that is just being built at the Houses of Parliament site. Mary, disguised as a 12 year-old urchin boy, is sent to investigate. There's mystery, adventure, danger, and some romance. What I also
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Jul 27, 2011
Sherrie
rated it:
This is the second book in this series. Very good book and the writing keeps the reader very anxious to find out what happened. Mary has to fit herself into a construction site as a boy. She runs up against several people who don't think she is who she says she is. As Mary slips out of her disguise some times with her language. But Mary is very persistent and keeps at her job. She also befriends a boy named Jinx. And James shows up on the construction set and almost blows her disguise. Mary also
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Feb 22, 2011
Clarabel
rated it:
Totalement conquise par ce deuxième tome !
Les retrouvailles entre Mary et James sont parfaites. Chaque scène entre eux donne des papillons dans le ventre. J'ai dégusté, je ne voulais plus lâcher prise.
J'ai également beaucoup aimé l'ambiance, celle du chantier de la tour de l'horloge (Big Ben), et l'intrigue criminelle n'est pas inintéressante, même si elle traîne un peu sur la fin.
Je suis impatiente de lire la suite - plusieurs questions sont laissées en suspens. Je n'ose aper More...
Les retrouvailles entre Mary et James sont parfaites. Chaque scène entre eux donne des papillons dans le ventre. J'ai dégusté, je ne voulais plus lâcher prise.
J'ai également beaucoup aimé l'ambiance, celle du chantier de la tour de l'horloge (Big Ben), et l'intrigue criminelle n'est pas inintéressante, même si elle traîne un peu sur la fin.
Je suis impatiente de lire la suite - plusieurs questions sont laissées en suspens. Je n'ose aper More...
Mar 23, 2011
Sally906
rated it:
Set in Victorian England – twelve year old Mary Quinn escaped death by hanging when she was rescued by two women, Anne and Felicity, and taken to a private girl’s school for a second chance at life. On her graduations she is let in on the secret that the school is also a front for an all-female detective agency and asked if she wants to join. Her first case is covered in ‘A Spy in the House’ now a year after the finish of that investigation Mary has almost finished her training and is offered a
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