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The Traitor in the Tunnel

(The Agency #3)

Y.S. Lee (Goodreads Author)

4.07 · Rating details · 6,449 ratings · 611 reviews

Queen Victoria has a problem: there's a thief at work in Buckingham Palace. The Agency - the secret all-female detective unit - assigns quick-witted Mary Quinn to the case. Posing as a palace maid and fending off the attentions of the Prince of Wales are challenging enough, but when the prince witnesses a murder, Mary's case becomes anything but petty.

Engineer and former f ...more

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Hardcover, 373 pages

Published February 28th 2012 by Candlewick Press

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YA Historical Fiction 2012

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Nov 13, 2010 Nafiza rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2012, source-net-galley, wish-list, favourites

Okay, this is going to be short because really there are only a few things I want to say about this novel.

1. I loved it. Really, really loved it.
Mary confronts the skeletons in her closet . The book takes a somber look at the people who sire us and how their mortality and morality affect us. This gives Mary new depths and she evolves much more as a character.
2. The kisses are smoking hot. My toes curled multiple times. It’s quite a feat since I wasn’t even the one being kissed.
3. Lee’s portr ...more

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Dec 13, 2016 Phrynne rated it really liked it

This is a rare event for me but I have accidentally started a series in the middle and now have to go back and read from the start! This turned out to be a really good book.
It is set in Victorian London, in Buckingham Palace no less, and it follows the adventures of a young lady who is acting as a kind of private detective. The story is good, the romantic interest is very entertaining and, although I am absolutely certain the author has taken great liberties with the behaviour of Queen Victoria, ...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Mith rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, whodunit, young-adult, absolutely-spiffing

I have, honestly, never come across a couple in a book more adorable and perfect together than Mary and James.

Y.S. Lee, THANK YOU, for giving us these two, especially James!

P.S - Queen Victoria is SUCH a badass in this book! :D ...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Dhara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-book-ever, mystery, historical-fiction

This book was absolutely wonderful! There was sooo much you didn't expect. Leave it up to Y.S. Lee to make it a suspenceful yet funny Victorian novel. She put it the right amount of detail in the book. Enough to let you get the main idea of where the characters are and what they are doing, but not so much to bore you to death. It was so good I couldn't put it down until 2:43 am (I could have stayed up longer- but unfortunatly, I had school in a few hours). Something that I enjoy in all of Y.S. L ...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Tracey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: england, 19th-century, 4-star, mystery, netgalley, ya

This is a young adult novel I was granted access to through Netgalley – with thanks to them. It is the third book in a series, but the only problem with that is that I want very much to read the first books and don't have them yet. (This also appears to be called The Traitor and the Tunnel - for the original Canadian edition, perhaps?)

Mary Quinn is undercover. She is twenty years old, and a part of an extraordinary intelligence agency, and posing as a maid in Queen Victoria's household. And I mu This is a young adult novel I was granted access to through Netgalley – with thanks to them. It is the third book in a series, but the only problem with that is that I want very much to read the first books and don't have them yet. (This also appears to be called The Traitor and the Tunnel - for the original Canadian edition, perhaps?)

Mary Quinn is undercover. She is twenty years old, and a part of an extraordinary intelligence agency, and posing as a maid in Queen Victoria's household. And I must say that the first glimpse we're given of Queen Victoria is a hilarious eye-opener that won my heart completely, for both her and this book. One of the best first lines I think I've ever seen:

Her Majesty Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, had a lamp shade on her head. Again.

There's something about that "Again" which just tickles me deeply.

I love that Mary's ethnicity – born of an Irish mother and a Chinese father – is simultaneously so easy to pass off as something else and so dangerous. I love that she has this mixed ethnicity – in a whitebread universe of fiction, she is unique and engaging. Another of her many distinctions is an almost unapologetic criminal past: Mary has as a child done what she needed to do to survive, having at an early age seen her father disappear and her mother die, and while she is far less than proud of it all, it is what it is. If only it didn't all exist as a wall between her and the fascinating young man she met in her prior investigations, James Easton … And if only her current investigation into small thefts at Buckingham Palace – which is rapidly turning into something else – didn't look like it was going to throw the two of them together again.

The writing is rather spare, with an inflection of the 19th century which makes me think of the writing axiom that a hint of dialect is far better and easier and more enjoyable to read than a constant stream. The sense of humor – often very dry – that runs throughout, from that very first memorable line, makes this a joy to read, and short chapters seem to make it fly by.

I loved the look at Victoria, her family, and the Palace as their home and that of their servants – the bits of the place you're not as likely to see on a tour. I loved the tone of the story – Mary is a literary cousin to Indiana Jones, James Bond, and The Three Investigators, only female and twenty and half Chinese and the daughter of a sailor, and perhaps a murderer – a wonderful point of view. I loved the romance – quite passionate for what I persist in thinking a young adult novel ought to be, but PG-rated and very well-written and satisfying. I appreciated that the matter-of-fact tone with which Mary considers her past is echoed in the outlook on the duties and necessities and hazards of the job in the palace: it is a fact of life that maids must turn and face the wall and pretend they aren't there whenever one of the Family comes upon them in the midst of their work, and however silly it is there is no fighting it and no questioning it. It is a fact of life that a young man in the family, be he "gentleman" or be he Prince, is a constant hazard to girls serving in the house, be it Eaton Place or Buckingham Palace. It's horrible, but again it is what it is and it can only be avoided until avoidance becomes impossible, and faced once it happens: there is no recourse.

It is this latter looming possibility along with the cold, hard facts of what it is to be Chinese in England in the 19th century that keep this grounded in reality, giving the fantasy of the Girl Spy a solid foundation. I didn't expect the depth of emotion in the story, nor the extent to which I'd become involved in it. Very well done indeed.

The author has a deleted scene on her lovely website. ...more

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Oct 20, 2018 thefourthvine rated it it was ok

Shelves: childrens-teen, romance, mystery, ya, historical

Ugh. I kept reading this series because I did like the basic idea of it and hoped it would improve. It did the opposite of that. The very, very opposite of that.

I’m going to lead, though, with what is good about the series. The central idea is fun, if anachronistic: the main character, sentenced to death for theft at the age of 12, is brought instead to a girls’ school founded on the revolutionary principle that women are capable of independent thought, life, and work. In time, she’s introduced Ugh. I kept reading this series because I did like the basic idea of it and hoped it would improve. It did the opposite of that. The very, very opposite of that.

I’m going to lead, though, with what is good about the series. The central idea is fun, if anachronistic: the main character, sentenced to death for theft at the age of 12, is brought instead to a girls’ school founded on the revolutionary principle that women are capable of independent thought, life, and work. In time, she’s introduced to the secret within that school: a detective agency, run and staffed solely by women. It’s a fun way of circumventing the hideous trap that being a woman was in those days, in service of some light mystery fiction.

The main character, Mary Quinn, is (view spoiler)

Okay, so that’s the good part. The bad part is — literally everything else. But the thing that frustrated me most was that this series was built on the idea of creating space for women to exist independent of men in the Victorian world. And yet the entire series revolves around a man. Mary’s on again, off again romance with James Easton is many things (insipid, annoying, anachronistic), but it is centered in the series. (view spoiler) So this series, and every major reoccuring character in it, is focused not on the story of women, or the independence of women, or sisters doing it for themselves, but rather on a man, and the importance of men, and the absolute centrality of men in women’s lives.

Finally, in this book, Lee realizes she doesn’t want to write about an agency of female detectives working independently, beholden to no man. (view spoiler)

There were other problems with this series, starting with book one, and there were definitely many other problems with this entry in it. But the fundamental dishonesty of the whole thing, the grossness of the central message, is what left me gagging, and what will leave me avoiding Lee’s writing in the future. Ugh. ...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Heidi rated it liked it

Three and a half stars: A book with a little something for everyone: mystery, romance, history and thrills.

Mary Quinn is working undercover on her first real assignment. She is posing as a parlor maid in Buckingham Palace. Mary in actuality is a secret agent working for an agency that employs all women spies/ detectives. Mary is sent to the palace to try and track down a thief. Someone is stealing small artifacts from the palace. While performing her daily duties, Mary unwittingly stumbles acro ...more

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Feb 23, 2012 TheBookSmugglers rated it really liked it

Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2012/03/b...

**WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THE AGENCY SERIES. If you have not read books 1 & 2, and you wish to stay unspoiled, look away now! You have been warned.**

After the events of The Body at the Tower, Mary Quinn finds herself a full graduate of the Academy and an official operative of The Agency. Her first official assignment, however, is the somewhat disappointing mission to disco Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2012/03/b...

**WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THE AGENCY SERIES. If you have not read books 1 & 2, and you wish to stay unspoiled, look away now! You have been warned.**

After the events of The Body at the Tower, Mary Quinn finds herself a full graduate of the Academy and an official operative of The Agency. Her first official assignment, however, is the somewhat disappointing mission to discover the identity of a petty thief, responsible for nicking a number of trinkets in the residence of Queen Victoria and her family at Buckingham Palace. Undercover as a parlor maid, Mary dutifully dives into her official role and is set on discovering the identity of the thief. Her investigation, however, leads her to an even more intriguing mystery when the police turn up at the palace, unannounced, bearing with them the shell-shocked heir prince Bertie. During a typical night of drinking and entertainment with the less than reputable Sir Ralph Beaulieu-Buckworth, the prince and his friend made an ill-advised trip to a seedy opium den – a trip that would end with the murder of Beaulieu-Buckworth at the hands of an opium-crazed Chinese sailor, Jin Hai Lang. Mary’s long lost father, presumed dead at sea.

Reeling from this dramatic news, Mary is determined to figure out the truth of her father’s incarceration, but her path is anything but clear. With tensions brewing at Agency headquarters and the infuriating James Easton reappearing in her life, complicating matters even more, Mary also knows that something secret and sinister is happening at Buckingham Palace. With a suspected traitor in the midst, Mary’s first job is anything but simple.

Building on characters and plot threads introduced in A Spy in the House and The Body at the Tower, The Traitor in the Tunnel picks up the intrepid Mary Quinn’s story and throws a slew of new complications in the mix. From a pure storytelling and plotting perspective, this third entry is somewhat uneven. The mystery aspects of the novel – that of Mary’s father’s imprisonment, that of the petty thief in the palace, and that of the larger treasonous plot afoot – feel scattered, with many stops and starts that don’t quite gel together in a cohesive whole. The eponymous Traitor in the Tunnel, truly the overarching mystery of the book, is sort of haphazardly thrown together and comes to a dissatisfying conclusion.1 Criticism concerning the logic of the plot aside, however, The Traitor in the Tunnel is an incredibly readable book and as engaging as ever, fraught with action and danger and steeped in mystery. I couldn’t put the book down, even while my brain cataloged some of the less-appealing aspects of the plot.

The reason why The Traitor in the Tunnel succeeds is not because of the strength of its plotting, but rather because of the strength of its heroine. As always, I love the premise of this series, taking the Victorian time period and adding a group of women who refuse to accept society’s imposed roles and amass their own power and agency – literally. As with the prior two books, The Traitor in the Tunnel explores these societal expectations and the women that both embrace and defy it (including the figure of Queen Victoria herself). Mary’s story in this third book is the most cathartic of all her adventures to date as she comes face to face with her lost father and is forced to reconcile her memories of Lang Jin Hai with reality. I love that Mary’s reunion with her father is not glamorized, and that Jin Hai is not exonerated for his crime or his addiction. More importantly, I LOVE the exploration of Mary’s heritage and sense of self-perception and identity in this novel (I have been waiting for this to be addressed in the series with more scrutiny!), as she has to make a choice about revealing her heritage in a London where “Asiatics” (and half-breeds like Mary) are seen as hated, inferior foreigners.

Mary’s soul-searching especially comes into play with her relationship with the infuriating/loveable James Easton. I won’t say much about anything that happens, except that their romantic relationship is FINALLY played through to resolution – but you’ll have to see for yourself if that is a good or a bad resolution. In any case, as always, I love the chemistry between James and Mary, with the both of them as incredibly stubborn and strong-willed as they are. Other familiar faces also make appearances in this installment – Felicity, Anne, the irritatingly charming Octavius Jones.

Overall, the series’ overarching plot is advanced with dramatic news at the close of the book with the future of the Agency at risk, some wonderful romantic developments, and plenty of loose ends to be explored. In short, while The Traitor in the Tunnel is not a perfect book, it is a very good one, and I cannot wait for the next Mary Quinn mystery. ...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Jennifer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: victorian-england, ya-historical, favorite-heroines, reviewed-on-blog, favorite-series, favorite-books, best-reads-of-2012, in-disguise, 2012-reads, mystery

Oh my god!! It is rare that I find a series that sucks me in the way that Y.S. Lee's Agency series has. It is even rarer when every book in a series gets a 5-Star ranking from me, but that is what happened with these historical mysteries.

For those of you who are unaware, The Agency is a young adult historical mystery series that tells of the adventures of Mary Quinn. Mary is a former street thief who was saved from execution/transportation and given the opportunity to be educated at a charity sc Oh my god!! It is rare that I find a series that sucks me in the way that Y.S. Lee's Agency series has. It is even rarer when every book in a series gets a 5-Star ranking from me, but that is what happened with these historical mysteries.

For those of you who are unaware, The Agency is a young adult historical mystery series that tells of the adventures of Mary Quinn. Mary is a former street thief who was saved from execution/transportation and given the opportunity to be educated at a charity school. After graduating, she was offered a position in the Agency which is a group of female spies who go undercover in a variety of places to help out clients. In earlier installments of this series, readers have seen Mary as a lady's companion and as a twelve year old boy. Now, Mary has become a housemaid in Queen Victoria's household to discover the truth about possible thievery amongst the servants.

My favorite thing about this series is watching Mary grow into a confident spy and an independent young woman. Her past was tragic, but it has been a joy to see her overcome it to become successful in her chosen career. It is very clear that Mary is no longer a novice within the Agency. She has experience and confidence in her abilities that has been lacking in some of her earlier missions. Mary has become less reactive and impulsive to what goes on around her, but she still hasn't lost that innate curiousity that makes her so fun to read about. She has also grown mature and aware of her feelings about certain complex topics like her heritage (half-Asian) and her personal feelings for young architect, James Easton. Despite her flaws, Mary is definitely an admirable and realistic historical heroine that would be a great role model for many teenage girls.

And speaking of James, it wouldn't be an Agency novel without that clever and stoic young man popping up in the middle of Mary's investigation. James, like Mary, has grown up during the series. He has realized how judgmental he was about certain things and wants to pursue a different relationship with Mary. It is a sure sign of maturity when one evaluates one's earlier priorities and figures out where one is incorrect or hasty. Readers do not get as much of James's point of view as in earlier installments, but I found that to be a great way for the author to hide his true motives.

Mary and James continue to be a fascinating "couple" with their opposing social standings, but obvious chemistry. Both of them have difficulty trusting others, but have learned to let their guard down with each other. In The Traitor in the Tunnel, readers see Mary intentionally pursue James's assistance (which she avoided at all costs before) and James deal with his protective nature when it comes to Mary's independence. I look forward to the next book to see more of this potential romance especially after certain events occurred near the end.

The mystery in this book begins in a fairly simplistic manner, but any fan of Mary's knows that it can easily become complex. In her investigation of the thievery, Mary discovers a mysterious tunnel underneath the palace and she, and James, try to decipher its connection to the royals. It was entertaining to watch Mary deal with both mysteries at the same time while trying to maintain her cover as a housemaid.

Another thing I enjoyed about this book was the inclusion of Queen Victoria and her family. I have always been fascinated by this lady and loved seeing how Y.S. Lee depicted her and her relationship with her husband and children. It was also fun to see the inner workings of a large English household...fans of Downton Abbey would definitely find the escapades of the servants fascinating.

This book does end with some lingering questions about the future of the Agency and Mary, and James's, role in it. Y.S. Lee is doing a fourth, and final, installment, and I personally cannot wait to see more of this interesting world of mystery, drama, and romance.

...more

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May 15, 2015 Hannah rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, historical-mystery

The Traitor in the Tunnel is by far the best installment of The Agency series; with the character introductions and early foundation cases out of the way, Mary finally (literally) moves onwards and upwards - in the world and as an agent of The Agency - faces her past and hitherto mysterious Chinese heritage and really makes some serious relationship progress with former beau (of sorts) James Easton. Hurrah.

Nothing could have prepared me for how much I enjoyed the change of scenery - we depart fr The Traitor in the Tunnel is by far the best installment of The Agency series; with the character introductions and early foundation cases out of the way, Mary finally (literally) moves onwards and upwards - in the world and as an agent of The Agency - faces her past and hitherto mysterious Chinese heritage and really makes some serious relationship progress with former beau (of sorts) James Easton. Hurrah.

Nothing could have prepared me for how much I enjoyed the change of scenery - we depart from the family house setting of The Spy in the House and the gritty conditions of the working poor in The Body at the Tower and dive into a case of serial thefts at BUCKINGHAM PALACE (something about a mystery in the palace always dials up the excitement - the whisperings of the servants, Queen Victoria herself making an appearance or two). With the change of setting also comes increased gravity of her assignment; although deceptively simple at the outset, Mary not only discovers that it is linked to a murder involving the Prince of Wales and a piece of her past that she'd long locked away, but also stumbles across a threat to the royal family hidden in secret tunnels running underneath the palace. The triple-layered mystery tying together a treasonous plot against Queen Victoria and Mary's long-lost Chinese father certainly makes The Traitor in the Tunnel a wildly more entertaining and suspenseful read than Book 2; I had admittedly thought the mystery in Books 1 & 2 often fell flat, but it certainly wasn't the case here.

But the greatest strengths of this book lay in two aspects. The first is the emotional exploration of Mary's heritage and racial identity - we knew little in previous books, aside from the fact that Mary is half-Chinese and keeps it hidden for her own safety in a country where Chinese and mixed-bloods are treated with hostility. But the return of her father as an opium addict and suspected murderer forces Mary to acknowledge and accept her mixed heritage as well as reconcile her memories of her father with the grim reality - and it IS grim. I loved that Y.S. Lee never tried to romanticize the "long-lost father" or his opium addiction, nor did she flinch from addressing Mary's Asian origins and what it entails in her historical period. It is exceedingly for a YA heroine to have Asian blood and for it to be treated not as something "exotic" and glamorous, but merely as a part of who Mary is and something which she has to deal with.

The second strength is the development of a more believably grounded relationship between Mary and James, both now considerably more mature and with the series of lies surrounding Mary's identity, their misunderstandings and prejudices out in the open. It would be unrealistic if their problems were so simply solved and they remain their stubborn, strong-willed selves, but they're both learning to trust and be upfront with their feelings rather than dancing around the issue. I had liked their romance in previous books but was admittedly never wholeheartedly invested in it; that has certainly changed with this book.

Most loose ends are wrapped up fairly neatly by the end and the romantic developments are wonderfully satisfying (a real contrast to the cliffhanger at the end of Book 2, that's for sure), but a threat to the future of the Agency itself promises enough intrigue for the final book. ...more

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Feb 07, 2018 ~maheen~ rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1800s, trilogy, too-short, 2018, adventure, couldn-t-put-it-down, romance, swoon-worthy-boys, espionage, series

3.5 stars.

“If you ever need to poison someone, do it with a bacon sandwich”

You do not know how much at ease I am when I read Y.S.Lee. For me, The Agency series turned out to be full of humor, family, friendship and James Easton. Even though the first book was slow to build a steady pace, they were so freaking relaxing. Especially after clawing through the endless chapters of Ulysses by James Joyce.

And what I love most about these epic quick-reads is that the romace is never, ever over-t ...more

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Feb 13, 2019 Andree rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

Blergh. This one really didn't work for me. It was just too... much. In other words, nothing about this felt realistic.

-Mary and James' fight at the start felt contrived, and for dramatic purposes only
-The setting felt over the top (Mary is investigating shenanigans at Buckingham Palace of all things). I mean, sure, some of the stuff with Queen Victoria was a bit fun, but also, really over the top
-The whole sub-plot with the Prince of Whales was just ick. She's a sympathetic and attractive maid Blergh. This one really didn't work for me. It was just too... much. In other words, nothing about this felt realistic.

-Mary and James' fight at the start felt contrived, and for dramatic purposes only
-The setting felt over the top (Mary is investigating shenanigans at Buckingham Palace of all things). I mean, sure, some of the stuff with Queen Victoria was a bit fun, but also, really over the top
-The whole sub-plot with the Prince of Whales was just ick. She's a sympathetic and attractive maid who's caught his eye (or she's pretending to be). Is she able to say no? It just, it was one too many things, and while probably a realistic conundrum for a maid, not one I enjoyed.
-I will say this, while it was certainly dramatic, (view spoiler)
-Speaking of happily ever afters, I really enjoy James and Mary when they're working together on a case, but the romantic resolution... (view spoiler)
-Really, the whole ending felt way too convenient. (view spoiler)

I dunno, parts of it are fun - who doesn't enjoy a secret tunnel under a palace. But I'm annoyed enough at the ending that I'm debating finishing the series. ...more

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Sep 11, 2011 Dulcinea rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: EVERYONE!!!

You should have seen my face when this book came in the mail, it was probably Facebook worthy!!
When I first started reading the book I was starting to feel a little let down, so I put it down and thought, what was missing? It was only then that I realized that my anticipation for this book had been building up for over a year, so I had envisioned some almighty holy grail-esque shining novel in which I would hear a choir singing whenever I turned a page. And that I shouldn't start the book think ...more

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Oct 21, 2013 Thenia rated it really liked it

Shelves: series, mystery, 2015, reviewed

Mary is undercover posing as a maid in Buckingham Palace, trying to find a thief. Her assignment isn't going as well as she'd like and there is tension in the Agency complicating matters further.

To make matters worse, James Easton is back unexpectedly and Mary suspects that (view spoiler) is her long lost father.

My life sucks so much right now

Conspiracies, an immature prince and not nearly enough support for Mary, who is struggling to complete her ...more

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Dec 26, 2015 Nidofito rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery-historical, 2016-reads, romance-historical

Rating: 2.5/5

I think it's been too long since I picked up this series because although I literally inhaled this book since I borrowed it from the library yesterday, I didn't enjoy it as much. First, anything where royalty is involved just bores me; their generosity, their love for their people, ugh it chafes at me and I don't enjoy all the prostrations that it involves. Second, there wasn't much high tension in the story, for me at least. The resolution to the mystery kinda whimpered out at the ...more

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Oct 15, 2018 Amy! rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, detective-spy, young-adult, romance, interesting-heroines, mystery, sequels, british, zzz2018-authors-non-white-women

This was so good. It was a great conclusion to the trilogy, except I learned upon finishing it that there's a fourth book! *Immediately downloaded* ...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Amy rated it did not like it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Mary and James sitting in a study K.I.S.S.I.N.G. First comes animalistic passion, then comes serious makeout scene, then comes James with his hand up her skirt!
I skipped the second book in the series for the very dull reason that I couldn't find a copy easily at hand, and I figured this was the sort of series you could skip around in.
It appears I was right.
The Traitor in the Tunnel has all I dislike about the first book in the series...and then some. To its credit, its also "minus some." The ex Mary and James sitting in a study K.I.S.S.I.N.G. First comes animalistic passion, then comes serious makeout scene, then comes James with his hand up her skirt!
I skipped the second book in the series for the very dull reason that I couldn't find a copy easily at hand, and I figured this was the sort of series you could skip around in.
It appears I was right.
The Traitor in the Tunnel has all I dislike about the first book in the series...and then some. To its credit, its also "minus some." The extreme femenist bombardment is slightly less. . The romance is worse. The modern mindset glaringly obvious.
Again, the mystery itself is interesting and the historical context fun. Bringing in Queen Victoria and not completely ruining her domestic side was good. Yup, yup, all good.
EXCEPT:
There is that dang modern mindset. Whether it is Mary trying to convince the maid that marriage isn't the final answer of life to her daring to contradict Queen Victoria and declare a women can have an occupation AND a marriage.
She's completely and positively adamant that women don't need men...yet of course doesn’t mind when a super handsome one makes out with her all the time. Apparently, the otherwise useless chaps are good for a nice spine-tingley thrill. ^.-
I found the continuation of her 'OH MY GOODNESS I'M CHINESE IF ANYONE EVER FOUND OUT THEY'D BE HORRIFIED' obnoxious. Get over yourself girl. It doesn't fit with the way anyone has treated her so far. Maybe the general populance would be hostile, but Felicity and Anne? Uh-huh.
Frankly, it's Mary's relationship with men that drive me nuts about this book. And by that I mean...
Her nearly getting molested by the Prince's guard/chap
Her nearly getting raped/offering up her femenine dignity to the Prince of Wales because apparently sleeping with a guy means he'll confess to murdering someone
Her relationship with James.
All of it.
It is, frankly, soft, emotional porn. Now, I'm not calling it anywhere near Shades of Grey or any of those modern harder emotional porn. This is the soft stuff. It's the "respectable" kind. Nothing actually happens. Unfortunatley, nothing is described in way to much detail.
Like when she shows up at James's house out of the blue....he doesn't get her in his study two minutes and they are passionately making out, her hair has come undone, her blouse buttons conveniently unbuttoned....
Maybe, maybe in different circumstances that might be cute, but their entire relationship involves them kissing or pissing eachother off. There is no middle ground. And for heaven's sake, "animalistic" is an awful word. There is nothing in the least bit romantic about it. But then, there you have their relationship in eight words. Nothing in the least bit romantic about it.
So there....didn't like this book, found her dependency on men dumb, found her need to go and "save" James again cliche, found their entire relationship one longed "passionate" makeout tiring. Otherwise, the book had potential ...more

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Mar 12, 2013 colleen the convivial curmudgeon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, whodunit

3.5

A lot is happening for Mary, both personally and professionally, in this latest installment. It opens with Mary on her first assignment as a fully trained Agent, even though the case - petty thefts at the palace - is a bit humdrum after the excitement of previous cases.

But then, while she's at the palace, this go awry for the Prince Bertie, and the case touches on Mary's on past. She also is left in a position of having to decide just how far she'll go to compromise herself to get information ...more

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Jul 25, 2010 Carla *Jen7waters* rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-heroines, favorite-authors, no-love-triangle, favorite-books, 2011-read, mystery-thriller, feels, swoon, heroine-kickass, crime

Ah, Ying…you are amazing. If I could give you a big hug right now, I would, I would also look like a crazy person/creepy stalker, but it would be worth it, because you just wrote the most PERFECT third book in a series of this kind, and I'm so happy I can finally give my beloved Mary Quinn a 5 star rating! SO HAPPY!

In this third book, Mary is working as a maid at the Buckingham Palace, undercover, of course, for the Agency. Some objects have gone missing, suggesting there's a thief among the sta ...more

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Aug 08, 2010 Allison (The Allure of Books) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011, historical-mystery, own-it, lady-spies_historical

Y’all, historical mysteries are one of my favorite genres. The Agency series by Y.S. Lee definitely delivers – I love these books! The Traitor in the Tunnel is easily the best yet.

Mary Quinn, working for the shadowy female Agency, is undercover at Queen Victoria’s palace as a maid. Some petty thefts have been going on, and Mary is hoping to figure out who is behind them. Then things get complicated. Extremely complicated. The prince witnesses a murder – and the accused murderer just might be som Y’all, historical mysteries are one of my favorite genres. The Agency series by Y.S. Lee definitely delivers – I love these books! The Traitor in the Tunnel is easily the best yet.

Mary Quinn, working for the shadowy female Agency, is undercover at Queen Victoria’s palace as a maid. Some petty thefts have been going on, and Mary is hoping to figure out who is behind them. Then things get complicated. Extremely complicated. The prince witnesses a murder – and the accused murderer just might be someone important from Mary’s past. Then, James Easton turns up working for the palace as well. He is hoping to shore up the sewer system. Can the two of them manage to work together, given their history?

Oh, the chemistry. Mary and James together are so dynamic and full of sparkage. The first two books were great, but their relationship really comes to a head in The Traitor in the Tunnel. I absolutely adore the way Y.S. Lee has written their romance. I’m thrilled that there is going to be a fourth book – they need that extra room for some further development. I can’t wait!

So, both mysteries going on in The Traitor in the Tunnel are fabulous. The accused murderer is Chinese, possibly very important to Mary’s history and extremely difficult to carry on a conversation with. How on Earth will Mary manage to figure out exactly who he is?

When some mysterious happenings are afoot in the tunnels – can Mary and James figure out who is behind them and why?

Mystery! Intrigue! Suspense! The Traitor in the Tunnel delivers on all fronts.

Also y’all, Queen Victoria makes an excellent cameo towards the end of the story. She manages to be both hilarious and bad ass. I loved the role Y.S. Lee gave her.

Basically, this is a definite must-read if you have read the first two books in the series. Otherwise – start from the beginning and experience the awesome! Mary Quinn is an awesome character and a great detective. I can’t get enough of the intrigues she finds herself in. I also can’t get enough of her growing romance with James Easton!

Definitely a series worth reading! Trust me. ...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Steph Su rated it liked it

Shelves: poc

Whenever a new Agency novel by Y. S. Lee comes out, I always try to resist the temptation to devour it immediately, knowing that I will have to wait a while until the next book. I succeeded in resisting for all of approximately two weeks after I was approved for it on NetGalley. While, in my opinion, THE TRAITOR IN THE TUNNEL didn’t quite live up to how much I loved the first two Agency books, it is still a satisfying return to Lee’s Victorian London.

My biggest frustration with TRAITOR was that Whenever a new Agency novel by Y. S. Lee comes out, I always try to resist the temptation to devour it immediately, knowing that I will have to wait a while until the next book. I succeeded in resisting for all of approximately two weeks after I was approved for it on NetGalley. While, in my opinion, THE TRAITOR IN THE TUNNEL didn’t quite live up to how much I loved the first two Agency books, it is still a satisfying return to Lee’s Victorian London.

My biggest frustration with TRAITOR was that I felt that many things were “uneven.” The story takes place among the most well-noted London landmarks and features well-known historical characters, but I still didn’t get a really thorough sense of the setting and minor characters. Some of the actions of seasoned characters felt rather abrupt and left me scratching my head and wondering, did he/she really do that? I also didn’t feel as much urgency or investment in TRAITOR, and felt like no sooner had I grasped what was going on in the plot than it was over.

But perhaps it’s just a result of it being a long time since I was in Mary’s world, or the fact that I was reading this on a Kindle, which, truth be told, sometimes takes away from my engagement in a story. I am very glad to see Mary again, who is resourceful, yet also contains relatable insecurities, particularly involving her familial past and her future, both of which get explored in appreciable side plots in TRAITOR. As always, I am more than happy to see James again—even though some of his behavior did feel a bit incongruous with the James I knew from the previous two books.

So THE TRAITOR IN THE TUNNEL might not be my favorite of the Agency books, but this series is still arguably the best mystery series set in Victorian England available. Best yet, there is one more Agency book in the works—and you’ll agree with me that it is a wonderful thing to be able to read about Mary, James, and the others for as long as possible once you start this series! ...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Elevetha rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: people who like silly and stupid romances based solely on passion and physical attraction

Shelves: historical-whatnot, mystery, once-is-enough, 2012, head-meet-your-new-friend-the-desk

Ugh.

Writing is fine. Story is okay. Nothing spectacular.

What annoys me to no end is Mary and James.

Their relationship appears to be all about the physical. They argue and bicker and then kiss passionately and get interrupted before they can do much more.

No meaningful conversations. Or, at the very least, not very many where they aren't yelling at each other. No signs that they really care for one another. It's all about how hot Mary gets underneath the petticoats whenever James is around and Ja ...more

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Feb 16, 2012 jillian n. rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, mystery

This is very likely the best of The Agency series so far. Certainly better than the second, which wasn't quite so good as the first, though it's a bit harder to remember that one, as it's been a good year or more since I read it (but I do have some vague recollections of a mystery gone horribly awry). I enjoyed the writing, the story was excellent, and I have a notion that the setting was perhaps a bit better done the others. Also, the addition of Mary's father didn't go amuck.

So overall, quite ...more

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Jul 13, 2012 SusannaF rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, historical

This installment of YS Lee's excellent historical romance-mysteries is, in my opinion not quite as tightly plotted as the last two, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. If I could, it would get 3.5 stars. Mary is, as always, intelligent, courageous and impulsive. Her thoughts always take more of the center stage than the actual mystery, and in this one, the mysteries are numerous and a bit confusing. They don't end up being related, which was disappointing. And as for James...well, at the beginnin ...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Krystle rated it really liked it

Okay, this review will be short but let me just some this book up first in three words: fun, addicting, and fabulous.

I absolutely loved the new setting in this one. We went from the absolute lows of Victorian society (the poor and the hardworking who live in shoddy housing and unhygienic places) to the utmost of highs (the ruling royalty). It was so fun seeing how she portrayed everyone from the well-meaning, sharp, but also caring queen to the ineffective, cowardly, and lazy ponce of a prince. ...more

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Mar 12, 2012 kari rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012, 5-star, ya

This series continues to be entertaining with well-developed characters and excellent plots. The mystery in this one, the thefts from the palace and the lurking about in the tunnels, is somewhat secondary to Mary's personal mysteries and actions. Not that that is bad, it's just that solving the mystery isn't central to the story, although it is the central story.
Without going into much detail, I loved how this one ended. I would have liked Mary to get to know more about her heritage and why thin ...more

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Mar 05, 2012 Krista (CubicleBlindness Reviews) rated it really liked it

So far this is my favorite book in the series. Of course this is the natural thing for most series because the characters and the world setting is mostly done in the first book. So we already have the established characters and just get to focus more on the plot of the story, which is a new mystery for Mary to solve.
This time the characters involved may be closer to Mary than she would have ever thought. It not only develops a story within the Royal court at Buckingham Palace, but one that leads ...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Margaret H. Willison rated it it was amazing

Shelves: frivolous-fun-books, inexpressably-good-books, vintage-crime, young-adult-fiction, historical-fiction

This book made me laugh out loud, it made me flip pages frantically to find out WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT, it made me sigh soulfully over perfect romantic scenes, it made me cry, it was-- in short-- a Mary Quinn book. The mystery here is a little less tightly-plotted than the others have been, as the two disparate threads Mary is investigating never coalesce into a larger, joined problem and the payoff in each-- since neither has been the specific focus-- is therefore lessened. But Mary's emotional ...more

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Dec 17, 2015 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

I loved this book! Mary finally confronts the ghosts of her past...and she seems to be the better for it. She also has to make some major decisions about where her life is going n this book, and I really hope that she sticks with what she chose. James is so confusing. I mean in the first part of the book, I really hated him for what he did to Mary. But by the end, I was totally back on his side again. The mystery, as usual with Y.S. Lee books was great. I never suspected who was stealing the tri ...more

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Dec 26, 2014 Ivy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: checked-out-from-library, published-in-2012, detectives

5 stars

Nice to see Mary as a full-fledged agent. Glad she was able to see her father for one last time. Also glad to see James again. Wonder if Mary will stay with Anne or go to work with Felicity. Finally, glad that Mary and James confessed their feelings for each other. Can't wait to read Rivals in the City!!! ...more

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About Y.S. Lee

Y.S. Lee

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Y S Lee was born in Singapore, raised in Vancouver and Toronto, and lived for a spell in England. As she completed her PhD in Victorian literature and culture, she began to research a story about a girl detective in 1850s London. The result was her debut novel, The Agency: A Spy in the House. This won the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s inaugural John Spray Mystery Award in 2011.

The Agency quart ...more

Other books in the series

The Agency (4 books)

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“Stop shining your lantern in my face."
"It's such a lovely face.” — 84 likes

“He smiled. "I suppose I thought we'd have a madly impractical, terrifyingly modern sort of marriage. One based on love. Not to mention dangerous undertakings and hair's-breadth escapes from burning buildings, high ledges and exploding sewers."

"And bickering."

"Always that, yes."

"Assuming I want to marry at all."

"True. I know of no good way of forcing you to do anything."

"And you're mad enough to think it could work - one day?"

He cupped her face in his hands. His smile was so brilliant it seemed to illuminate the room. "I think it would be heaven."

She trembled, then. "You have a very strange idea of heaven."

"Kiss me and see.” — 82 likes

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