I do have a few quibbles about this book, but overall, I enjoyed the story. The mixture of treasure hunt and romance was well balanced and the characterisation was solid.
Hugo Duran and Jessica Carville are a well-matched couple, even though neither of then come across as particuarly pleasant people to start with. He's a chancer who abandoned Jessica without a word of explanation and she is rather self-absorbed (to the extent that she's blind to her sister's unhappiness). They had been lovers for a short time before the story starts, but he left without explanation, so naturally, she's not especially keen to have anything more to do with him. Jessica is independent and strong-willed, the black sheep of her family - her brother is a stuffed-shirt and her sister is dutifully and unhappily married to a man who beats her. She ran headlong into her affair with Hugo, and in the six years since he left, built herself a reputation as an expert in antiquities, and when we first meet her, is masterminding an exhibition and sale of artefacts at Christie's.
Hugo returns unexpectedly from India (where he has lived most of his life) and hopes to enlist Jessica's help in searching for the Golden Leopard, which has been stolen from an Indian potentate, and which he tells her he has to find or forfeit his life. What he doesn't tell her is that whether he finds it or not, he is to die anyway, at the hand of his constant shadow, Shivaji or the band of silent, invisible "Others", who have been dispatched to watch his every move. Personally, I found this part of the story to be the most readable and convincing; how Hugo secures Jessica's help, her disbelief and mistrust, their eventual success - and especially, in the last quarter of the book, Hugo's escape and their reunion.
The quibbles I have are largely due to the development of the romantic part of the story - or more specifically to the way their sexual relationship is renewed. Jessica doesn't trust Hugo for most of the story and yet she falls into bed with him at almost the first opportunity. I imagine we're supposed to think they're picking up where they left off six years previously, but the sex scenes add little or nothing to the story and feel as if they've just been tacked on for titilation (!) It's difficult enough to believe that a well-bred young woman of the 1820s would have fallen into bed with a man - no matter how gorgeous or charismatic (and Hugo is both!) - at the drop of a hat; and I found it just as difficult to believe Jessica would want to resume it so quickly. The romantic part of their relationship worked much better as we see them both come to realise and admit how much they care for each other. There are times I wanted to smack Hugo around the head though, because he deceives Jessica on several occaions (or lies by omission) because he believes it's best for her. And of course, his final deception is because he wants to keep her alive, so while what he does is rather underhanded, his motives are of the best.
Those caveats apart however, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who likes a dash of romance in with their mystery (or vice-versa).
Thanks to NetGalley and Bell Bridge Books for the review copy. This title was originally published in 2002, so this is a review of the recent re-issue for Kindle.