The Lady Heiress

The Zero Enigma, Book 8

By: Christopher G. Nuttall

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

House Lamplighter was once amongst the greatest of the Great Houses of Shallot...but now it is a tumbling ruin.

The once-great mansion is decaying, the vast network of clients have broken ties long ago, and the remaining family scrabbles over crumbs as the last remnants of their fortune are spent repaying their debts. The family seems doomed, beyond all hope of salvation.

Lucy Lamplighter, returning to her home after her father’s death, intends to save her family by any means necessary. Gambling everything she has left, she stakes it all on a desperate bid to rebuild House Lamplighter before the vultures begin to swoop. But she’s playing with fire...and those who play with fire often get burnt.

©2020 Christopher G. Nuttall (P)2021 Podium Audio

Yep it’s a book

I use the review stars to indicate what books I have enjoyed and also to show me what I have already listened to. I don’t normally write anything unless I feel the need. Being forced to write some will probably lead other user to leave bad reviews at no fault of the author or narrator. Need to change this Audible

Subtle misogny

I'm noticing a pattern in this series where women who seek power and control of their lives become the victims or more powerful people, are banished or meet a bad ending. And they fate they meet is always worse than what they've done.

Another subtle star in The Zero Enigma series

This is another star in The Zero Enigma series, which I consider the author's finest of several series. His sophistication as a writer grows. We have a very well defined main character, who has many flaws and many opportunities to overcome those flaws, with a serious streak of determination. This is a real page-turner. It is a "side story" of Shallot, a city in the world Christopher Nuttall has deftly built. I really appreciate how he dealt with the supporting cast...very few are merely all evil or all good. The shades of grey add so much realism and complexity. Well-done! Extremely well-read. Saskia Maarleveld handles male voices as well as females, quite perfectly. That often cannot be said of male narrators and how they handle female voices. Wonderful Audible entry.

--and re-read 2 1/2 months later, when I re-read the whole series--hope there are many more Enigma's down the literary road...

Follows the rise of the fallen House Lamplighter!!

This is another of the standalone books, along with ‘The Alchemist’s Apprentice’ and to some extent ‘The King’s Man’ (although The King’s Man neatly ties together so many of the other stories, it is hardly a standalone).
The story follows Lucy Lamplighter, the daughter of Lord Lucas Lamplighter of the once great House Lamplighter.
House Lamplighter however, has fallen on ill times, largely through some very bad decisions by Lucy’s now deceased father, and the estate has now fallen to her as the Matriarch of the house.
Lucy has spent the last 6yrs at Graylings Academy for Lady’s, a place where the Aristocracy send their unwanted female children to, for a semi-formal education, but more to get them out of the way, and provide them with most of the social etiquette and formal requirements needed to exist in ‘polite’ society. This will allow the senior members of the Family to arrange a good marriage for them when they ‘Come of Age’.
The story starts just as Lucy discovers her father’s death, and returns to House Lamplighter. Here she finds that most of the family has fled, leaving only her Uncle Jalil, an Uncle by marriage, but her father’s closest advisor. There is also another Uncle who is the family lawyer, and an Auntie, who is the connection to the ‘Grande Dames’ of high society.
Lucy also reconnects with the only maid in the house, who was her friend as a child, Jadish.
Lucy finds the family’s finances in ruins, and is told if she takes on the position of Matriarch she will be condemned to the same fate as her late father. However, Lucy feels such a strong bond to the family, and those servants that have stayed, that she cannot face turning her back on anyone. It is her responsibility to save the family, and she is committed to doing that, regardless of how she does it.
The story then follows Lucy, and those around her, as they start to find a slew of different ways to make money to try and save the House and the Lamplighter name. One of these comes out of pure luck, the ability to host balls for the other Great Houses as a neutral ground, as none of the other Houses are able to host due to loyalties and commitments.
It is during one of these balls, that Lucy stumbles across some information, overhearing one of her guests, and later, she uses this, to sneak into somewhere she shouldn’t.
This leads to several things. Lucy discovers that she gets a thrill from the gamble that comes from sneaking about, the risk of possibly getting caught somewhere she shouldn’t, and the potential outcomes. But she is also using those outcomes to create profit for her House, which is giving her another thrill.
Pretty soon, she is rolling the dice in ways that she shouldn’t be, and as with all types of gambling, eventually you lose.
I am not going to give away spoilers, but needless to say, there is an intriguing, fascinating and absolutely thrilling story that follows Lucy (who is a complete idiot to be honest, but I get that she was desperate), from her highs, to her absolute, terrifying lows.
This is a story with politics, lots of intrigue and gossip about multiple different characters we have already met from the previous books, from Great Houses, to the Lower classes, and all of it is creative, clever, and riveting. This is a very clever story, and one that has you captivated from the start, through to the very end.
The character work continues to be beyond exceptional, Lucy is brilliant, along with the characters in her household (Jadish and Jalil are outstanding). Her friends (I am not going to mention anyone to avoid spoilers), are very cleverly done in this book, and really provide a wonderful edge to the story. It is the malicious character that really provides the exceptional and gritty aspect to this book though, they are just truly brilliant, something unexpected, and done so well.
Overall, this is another really great book in the series, like ‘The King’s Man’, it ties together other characters from previous books, providing great insight into the lives of main and secondary characters so that we get to see the background workings of the story, and are in a way, brought up to speed with the overall timeline. This book actually starts back before book 7, but then covers the events of book 7, and does it so incredibly well, incorporating the uprising into Lucy’s story with remarkable ease. It is obvious that Nuttall has an overarching plan for the series, which is making this such an amazing read.
This is just one of those series that you can’t miss – and this book is a highlight in the series, really well done!
Saskia Maarleveld has such a beautiful voice, you can listen to it endlessly without tiring of it, it is just so easy to listen to. She does a stunning range of both Male and Female voices, and within each of the genders, she is able to create a range of character voices so that you can clearly tell who is talking without having to be told.
On top of this Maarleveld captures the emotional state of her characters with perfection, so that you can clearly understand how the characters feel at the time they are speaking, whether than be angry, sad, happy, elated, shocked, frightened, etc. Maarleveld really uses this to bring the story to life, adding a whole extra dimension to her storytelling.
Saskia Maarleveld is one of the truly exceptional Narrators, and she is just a pleasure to listen to, this is an absolute must listen to as it is so good as an audiobook!!

Good Solid Addition to Series

This book adds more depth and richness to the Zerp Enigma Universe. You really care about the character and want to read more about her at the end of the book.

Dragged along

Very slow until the last hour of the audible book. Actually had on high speed to move it along