The story starts with Eloise, an American PhD student in England who is researching a 19th century English spy called the Pink Carnation for her doctoral dissertation. There is very little of Eloise's story before she finds some old manuscripts and the story shifts to that what she is reading: the history of the pink carnation.
The story-within-the-story is the diary of wanna-be spy Amy Balcourt. Her father was murdered during the French Revolution and she has been living in England since she was a child. Her brother, who is still living in France, invites Amy to come home and she sees this as her chance to join the league of the Purple Gentian, the reigning leader of the resistance movement. She and her cousin Jane set out to find the Purple Gentian and save England from being invaded by the French. Little does Amy know that she meets the Purple Gentian almost immediately (that's not a spoiler, it happens very early on) but his "disguise" is as a member of Napoleon's court, so Amy finds him charming but despicable. It's a kind of Clark Kent/Superman type situation, if Clark Kent was working for the rival newspaper.
I listened to the book on CD and I really enjoyed it. The characters are very entertaining and Kate Reading's voices really enhance them (she did Stephenie Meyer's "The Host" too). This is the first book in a series and I am looking forward to reading the next ones, where I think they'll continue to develop Eloise's story.
I have to say though I think this is mis-shelved in the mystery section. It's really a romance, not a mystery. There is some question to the identity of the Pink Carnation but it is in no way the driving force behind the story.
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