The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

Narrated by Martyn Swain

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen is the first in KJ Charles’ The Doomsday Books duology, which is set in and around Romney Marsh in Kent, a rather desolate part of the country that, owing to its isolation and proximity to the sea was something of a smuggler’s paradise between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. In this story, two anonymous lovers find themselves pitted against each other while a murderous rival gang will stop at nothing to retrieve something they believe they’re owed. KJ Charles delivers a charming frenemies-to-lovers romance together with an intriguing, high-stakes mystery, all wrapped up in lots of wry humour, sharply observed social commentary and fabulous historical detail.

When Gareth Inglis enters the taproom of the Three Ducks, he’s over two hours late for his assignation with the man he knows only as “Kent”. He prepares himself for disappointment – Kent has probably left, or found himself more congenial company for the evening. But to Gareth’s delight, the man is still there, waiting, only too happy to agree to Gareth’s suggestion of foregoing a drink and heading straight upstairs to the private room they’ve been meeting in for the past week. But after a very pleasant interlude *wink* Kent announces he has to return home, and Gareth doesn’t take the news well, becoming instantly distant and frosty with his lover and dismissing his suggestion that they could arrange to meet up again on his next visit to London. But Gareth – who has already had bad news that day – is too familiar with disappointment, too used to waiting for someone who never comes, and he needs to leave before he is left. He doesn’t look back.

Two days later, Gareth receives news that will change his life. He is now “Sir Gareth” – as his father, Sir Hugo, has died – and he has inherited a house in Romney Marsh and a respectable sum of money. On arrival at the house, he’s surprised to find it inhabited by a lady calling herself Mrs. Inglis and her niece – Gareth’s half-sister, Cecilia. Gareth quickly realises that Mrs. Inglis – Catherine – had been his father’s mistress, and that his father has made no provision for either of the ladies in his will. Inwardly cursing Sir Hugo for a selfish bastard, Gareth swiftly reassures Catherine that he has no intention of throwing her or Cecilia out and that they are welcome to remain at Tench House for the time being.

Going through his father’s books and papers, Gareth discovers that the man had a deep love for natural history, an interest in the local flora and fauna, birds, wildlife and, especially, insects. Intrigued himself, Gareth takes to exploring the marshes looking to see what his father saw and perhaps to make discoveries of his own. Unfortunately, however, one of those discoveries, when he’s returning home late at night, is a string of ponies laden with packs and barrels and voices raised in argument. Knowing what must be going on, Gareth stays out of sight, but can make out enough in the moonlight to see a man rip the mask from his companion’s face – and is surprised to see it’s a young woman before the train moves on. Thoughtlessly, Gareth mentions the occurrence in front of Cecilia’s beau – a revenue officer – an arrest is made and Gareth, despite not wanting to get involved, is called to give evidence.

Joss Doomsday controls his family’s large smuggling organisation with a firm, yet reasonable, hand. The operation provides work, income and goods for many local families who would otherwise have nothing, and as the “Upright Man”, Joss is the go-to person for just about everything that affects his family and those living in the Dymchurch area. It’s a huge responsibility that leaves Joss with little time for a life of his own – but it’s either him or letting his uncle Elijah – who should be in charge but whose recklessness and fondness for drink almost ruined them – run things into the ground, and there are too many people depending on Joss for their livelihoods for him to let that happen.

When Joss’ sister Sophie is arrested, it’s just one more sign that he needs to do something about Elijah – although first things first, he needs to get her released. Realising that the man who saw her that night on the marsh is none other than the man he’d known simply as “London” for that one, blissful week of nights, Joss tries to get Gareth to speak to him privately so he can ask him not to testify, but when Gareth (who doesn’t yet know who Joss is) refuses his overtures, Joss has to resort to drastic measures. He knows exactly what Gareth will think as soon as he sees Joss enter the courtroom – that Joss could ruin him with a single word – but he has to put Sophie’s safety first.

Furious and humiliated, Gareth retracts his statement, and would be pleased never to see Joss Doomsday again, but when he realises he’s become caught up in the middle of something dangerous, Joss is the only person he can turn to for help. The Sweetwaters – a rival gang operating on the other side of Romney – think Gareth has something they want, but he has no idea what it could be and is sure he doesn’t have it. The trouble is – they won’t take “no” for an answer and are fully prepared to use violence to get what they want.

The mystery here is clever and skilfully put-together, the tension building inexorably towards a thrilling, edge-of-the-seat climax. The historical background is, of course, excellently researched, and the cross-class romance between the baronet and the smuggler is beautifully done. I really liked the way it leads both men to question their assumptions about each other and to learn new things about themselves; how Joss shows Gareth, who has always seem himself as weak and needy, that he’s stronger than he thinks he is, and Gareth shows Joss that it’s okay to set his burdens down and let someone else pick them up for a while. Amid some lovely moments of tenderness and affection, Joss and Gareth find, for the first time in their lives, something they never realised they needed – someone who wants to be “on their side”, someone they can be themselves with and who will willingly share life’s burdens. They’re three-dimensional individuals with flaws and hang-ups, likeable, decent men trying to do the right thing and struggling with the weight of responsibility – Gareth because he has no experience of familial love and no idea how actually be part of a family, Joss because everyone wants a piece of him and he has no time to be himself.

The narration by new-to-me narrator Martyn Swain has a lot going for it, although I did have a few issues with the pacing, and there’s some oddly stilted intonation in places. But what Mr Swain does well, he does very well indeed; all his character voices are excellent and very clearly differentiated and he absolutely nails the chemistry and connection between Joss and Gareth. The story opens with a sex scene, and Mr. Swain captures their dynamic right away – Joss’ warmth and his affection for Gareth come through strongly, as does Gareth’s prickliness, the tension in his voice easily conveying the sense he’s very tightly wound. I admit I was interested in how Mr. Swain would handle the Doomsdays’ Kentish accent; it’s pretty much disappeared today – most people from Kent sound like most other people from the South East of England – so I imagine it’s not an accent that will be in most narrators’ tool boxes, but Mr. Swain takes a good stab at it. It’s a bit West Country at times, but there are similarities between the two so it works well on the whole.

As to the pacing issues I mentioned – there are a lot of pauses in the opening chapter, and it seemed to take a chapter or two for the narrator to really settle in to the rhythms of the prose. The pauses don’t disappear completely as the story progresses, but are mostly confined to the narrative portions of the story; the dialogue is mostly unaffected and performed with natural rhythm and inflection.

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen is a wonderful combination of tender romance and clever mystery featuring well-rounded characters who are easy to like and root for, an expertly drawn secondary cast and a superbly detailed setting that comes vividly to life. The narration did take a couple of chapters for me to really get used to it, but I enjoyed it overall so I’m happy to offer this audiobook a strong recommendation.

Caz

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