Too Hot to Handel (Another John Pickett Mystery)

When a rash of jewel thefts strikes London, magistrate Patrick Colquhoun deploys
his Bow Street Runners to put a stop to the crimes. The Russian Princess Olga
Fyodorovna is to attend a production of Handel’s Esther at Drury Lane Theatre,
where she will wear a magnificent diamond necklace. The entire Bow Street force
will be stationed at various locations around the theatre—including John
Pickett, who will occupy a box directly across from the princess. In order to
preserve his incognito, Pickett must appear to be a private gentleman attending
the theatre. Mr. Colquhoun recommends that he have a female companion—a lady, in
fact, who might prevent him from making any glaring faux pas. But the only lady
of Pickett’s acquaintance is Julia, Lady Fieldhurst, to whom he accidentally
contracted a Scottish irregular marriage several months earlier, and with whom
he is seeking an annulment against his own inclinations—and for whom he
recklessly declared his love, secure in the belief he would never see her again.
The inevitable awkwardness of their reunion is forgotten when the theatre
catches fire. In the confusion, the Russian diamonds are stolen, and Pickett is
struck in the head and rendered unconscious. Suddenly it is up to Julia not only
to nurse him back to health, but to discover his attacker and bring the
culprit—and the jewel thief—to justice.