Secret Service of Tea and Treason

Alice Dearlove is Agent A at the Agency of Undercover Note Takers, known to its officers as A.U.N.T. The unit trains its recruits from childhood to put duty above everything else. When a plot against Queen Victoria's life surfaces, Alice is paired with her longtime rival, Daniel Bixby. The two pose as newlyweds to get close to the conspirators.

The case leads to a house party thrown by a band of sky pirates. Reaching it takes a perilous flight above the English countryside. Flying houses and witches share the setting, along with a castle full of secret passages. Somewhere inside is a hidden weapon that Alice and Daniel have to find before it can be used.

Playing a devoted couple pushes both agents past a distance their training spent years building. Alice's composure starts to slip around Daniel's steadiness. The attraction they were trained to bury refuses to stay professional.

This is the third Dangerous Damsels novel, arriving after The League of Gentlewomen Witches. It plays its Victorian spy plot broad and funny rather than realistic.