Georgette Heyer, a young authoress, has dared greatly in The Black Moth, for an historical novel is not the easiest thing in the world with which to hold an audience. Nevertheless, this romance of the eighteenth century will conquer by sheer merit an age which is not greatly concerned with the past. “The Black Moth” (the Duke of Andover) is such a gallant as the coffee houses of Georgian times loved to produce, a wild young rake who could win or lose his ancestral estates without a quiver. And, on the other hand, there is Lord John Carstares, convicted card cheat, an outlaw from all decent society.’ The real hero of the book, however, is Andover, who, with his sinister charm and graceful selfishness, flits through the pages graciously and racily; but it is to the merry-hearted John Carstares, turned highwayman, and preying on his kind, that justice finally makes amends. The picture of Richard Carstares, the real cheat, married to the butterfly sister of Andover, forced to become banker for his brother-in-law, who knows the truth and turns it to his own advantage, is a masterly piece of character sketching.
SOURCE: The Queenslander (Brisbane, Australia), Saturday, June 3, 1922