Tracy Grant Book Club discussion
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The Whitehall Conspiracy
Rannoch Series
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Tracy
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Aug 07, 2022 02:02PM
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Hi Tracy - I am a long time member of the group. The series was recommended to me on Amazon based on other series that I read. I started when it was the Fraser series and have continued reading up to the latest book. While my favorite book in the series is Imperial Scandal (so much action and history), I have enjoyed all the books. The characters have grown and become more complex over time. The stories are engaging and I am usually surprised at the solution to the investigation. With so many ongoing character, I some times miss some of the secondary characters like Inspector Roth and David & Simon. I look forward to the novella in the fall and the full books in the spring.
I purchased and read Beneath a Silent Moon when it first came out. Sometime later, I read Imperial Scandal and was hooked. I went back to the beginning, and started the series. I love the Regency Period having discovered it when I was 14 and was introduced to Georgette Heyer (before that, I read every book possible from my small town’s library). Historical fiction is one of my favorite genre’s and Tracy brings her growing cast of characters to life along with the period and what was happening.
Hi Tracy! My sister found your books with Daughter of the Game and told me about them. I never got into them until Charles became Malcolm, and I started eating them up as they came out. I have read them all and the original version of Alistair's "death" in "Beneath a Silent Moon". But the differences that started growing between the old version and the current one convinced me that you were correct in your FAQ when you said they should be considered as two versions of their story and separate series. I have been reading Regency era romances and mysteries since Georgette Heyer and other writers in the 60s. I like the grittiness of your and other modern Regencies, the broken veterans of the Peninsular wars sleeping in the parks and those with drug or alcohol problems or "shell shock" or whatever they called it in 1815. I love how Malcolm and Melanie, Harry and Cordelia and others have coped with marriage and other problems. All of this is what keeps me reading from book to book. The "mystery of the book" draws me in, but getting to know the characters better pulls me back again and again.
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Thanks for sharing how you discovered the books, Kim! You're a founding member of the group! Have you read all the book in the order they've been written in? I think you'll be pleased that next spring's novel revolves around Roth...
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That's interesting that you went from Beneath to Imperial Scandal, Diane! Did you go back and fill in with the other books after? I have always loved the Regency period thanks to Jane Austen and then Georgette Heyer. My daughter is currently reading a bunch of middle grade books set in the Regency. Between that and talking about and helping proof my books and watching Jane Austen movies, she loves the era.
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That's so great your sister introduced you to the series, Serena! I've heard from others who prefer Malcolm to Charles. Can you put your finger on the difference? I love crafting each mystery but even more I love the overall development of the characters and series.
Tracy wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "Hi Tracy - I am a long time member of the group. The series was recommended to me on Amazon based on other series that I read. I started when it was the Fraser series and have cont..."I read all the Fraser books first then the Rannoch. I have enjoyed the changes that were made in the transition such as keeping both Julien and Alistair. As other member have said I enjoy the investigations, but I love the character stories. The way you gave David & Simon a "family" was a surprising twist. It allows David & Simon to be parent (like most of their friends) as well as create a better environment for the children than the way David grew up.
I have been reading Tracy's books for many years and like Serena I started when Malcolm was Charles and also had to finally switch my brain off and stop the mental comparisons. So Now it is Malcolm and Melanie and their extended family which is what I consider their friends to be. They are the family that they chose. I admit just keeping tabs on who is actually the child of who is and can be challenging at times, I swear I am going to create a visual genealogy chart to keep track of people. But I love the stories and have rally enjoyed following these people around.For those who just joined, we are a pretty opiniated group!!! But welcome and be sure to chime in.
Janet here. I was on a lunch break from work.
I went to Borders (yes, it was a few years ago!) and a gorgeous cover (the colors!) caught my eye. What WAS this woman hiding!?
I bought it, sneaked it into my cubicle and was immediately caught up in the story! Told my online friends (Scarlet Pimpernel fans mostly) about the book and history was made. :)
I agree with you about the genealogy problems. Keeping track of Alistair's "get" [only word that works for me since he apparently sees himself as London's prime stallion!] alone is tricky let alone the minor characters and who was sired by whom. Thinking about Sandy who would have been Malcolm's brother if Arabella hadn't understandably preferred Raoul over her husband. I would have any day even if in his own way Raoul wasn't just as busy.When my sister told me Julian had been killed off in the first version it was one more reason to worry and then breathe deeply in relief that instead he married Kitty and took back the Earlham. So much space for more fascinating future plotting. Not to mention keeping the secret of Leo's father from Alistair.
I’m with you on the autocorrect. Drives me crazy!
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Kim, I had always wanted to find a way for David and Simon to have a family, but I hadn't worked out how until i was writing MAYFAIR AFFAIR. Some of the twisting in the overarcing story are in my head years in advance (Alsitair's not being dead, Laura and Raoul) but others develop as I write . It's fun!
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Thanks for the nice words, Deb! I am trying to figure out how to add a genealogy to my website or here (with spoilers!). And I second Deb's encouragement for people to chime in. It is so great to get conversations going!
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I was on a lunch break from work.
I went to Borders (yes, it was a few years ago!) and a gorgeous cover (the colors!) caught my eye. What WAS this woman hiding!?
I bought it, sneak..."
I love the story about how you found the series, Janet! That is exactly how a cover is supposed to work - catching the eye of someone who would love the book and tell friends. Doesn't always turn out that way, but it is so great when it does! And it also great to have readers who stay with the series!
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Serena, Julien and Kitty both being alive (Kitty died before the books even started in the original) is a key reason I'm really happy got to create the Rannoch version of the series, as confusing as it can make things. It's hard now for me to imagine this world and the Rannochs' family (as Deb so well described it) without Julien and Kitty. Not to mention Leo, who wouldn't even have existed in the original.
As to Sandy, he may not be Malcolm's brother, but he is Julien, Gisèle, and David's cousin...
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Tracy wrote: "Jan wrote: "Janet here.
I was on a lunch break from work.
I went to Borders (yes, it was a few years ago!) and a gorgeous cover (the colors!) caught my eye. What WAS this woman hiding!?
I boug..."
Jan wrote: "Damn autocorrect!!!"
Serena wrote: "EARLDOM! DAMN IT!"
So with you on autocorrect! I have to proof emails and texts and posts even more carefully because of it. And it can lead to hilarious typos in books if one isn't careful!
Forgot to say, the first book was "Daughter of the Game" - the old series.
