Title: Rivals in the City Series: The Agency #4
Author: Y.S. Lee
Published: June 5, 2014
Genre(s): Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Page Count: 293
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:Mary Quinn has a lot on her mind. James Easton, her longtime love interest, wants to marry her; but despite her feelings, independent-minded Mary hesitates. Meanwhile, the Agency has asked Mary to take on a dangerous case: convicted fraudster Henry Thorold is dying in prison, and Mary must watch for the return of his estranged wife, an accomplished criminal herself who has a potentially deadly grudge against James. Finally, a Chinese prizefighter has arrived in town, and Mary can’t shake a feeling that he is somehow familiar. With the stakes higher than ever, can Mary balance family secrets, conflicting loyalties, and professional expertise to bring a criminal to justice and find her own happiness?
It’s been a fairly long time since I read the first three installments in this series, but I certainly don’t remember them being this…bad. Rivals in the City reads in a very stiff, inauthentic manner that defies believability in almost every area: characterization, plot, historical accuracy. I’m quite sure that Y.S. Lee has never before offered so unsatisfactory a novel.
Every aspect of this book seems false. The dialogue between characters is overly formal and flowery, emotionless and stilted. The narration itself is heavy-handed and obviously coming from a modern-day author; the sections regarding James’s contempt for racism were so obviously penned by a 21st century author on a soapbox that it was painful. The plot twists were ridiculous and unbelievable, and the story tended toward extravagantly dramatic flourishes that seemed implausible at best. Reading Rivals in the City was like reading a hasty, ill-considered attempt at historical mystery. It’s almost hard to believe Lee took this book seriously.
This book seems to come from another age. 10—or even 5—years ago, this novel wouldn’t have seemed odd among its YA brethren. But I think the expanding market for young adult novels has led to more variety, and fiercer competition has led to increased quality. What would once have been seen as a unique addition to YA now seems clumsy and poorly executed. In spite of her credentials, this author does not seem to have any particular talent for writing YA mystery novels.
And, to be fair, I knew this going in. I’ve never been an ardent fan of The Agency series, and I didn’t expect to be blown away by this. I was realistic. But that doesn’t change the fact that Rivals in the City was really quite terrible—laughingly so. The moment Mary’s long-lost Chinese cousin arrived and revealed his story of a cult and a rebel army and very problematic mother, I knew that nothing good was going to come of this. Some things are just too far-fetched to be borne, especially when they are badly executed, with wooden dialogue and two-dimensional characters presenting the so-called “plot twists”.
It is with great disappointment that I close my relationship with The Agency series on a sour note. Y.S. Lee truly did have some good ideas, and the concept had great potential. Unfortunately, her skill as a writer didn’t live up to its promise. Rivals in the City is sloppy and hard to swallow, and such a shame such a well-intentioned series had to turn out so unsatisfactorily.
