the sugared game - spoiler question/speculation

[no_detective]

this is a question for those who have read THE SUGARED GAME, second book in the will darling adventures series. please don't read below the cut if you don't want to be spoiled, but... i just need to scream about this with someone :D

at the very end, when members of kim's agency show up to investigate/clean up the mess, one of the agents who specifically investigates the paper trail and the finances of the zodiac is WILLIAM MERTON - a.k.a. the brother of pat merton of THINK OF ENGLAND!!!!!! (he has a storyline, including romance AND a secretive whitehall job investigating embezzlement, in PROPER ENGLISH - its prequel focusing on pat and fen.) this got me very excited about the will darling stories being in the same universe as ToE, my favorite kj charles book!!!! and then...

THEN we meet kim's boss DS who is described as a "smooth-looking, handsome chap of Jewish looks, extremely dark of hair and eyes" (will wonders if he dyes his hair bc he's middle-aged), fashionably dressed and wearing "natty horn-rimmed spectacles and a wearily sardonic expression". in the course of the single scene in which he appears, he is super sharp, quotes dante, and asks will about his rank in the army - then bitterly jokes about him being "an act of god". and he knows what kind of relationship kim has with will.

....and all of these little details - physical description, personal grooming, fashion, literary references, sharp wit, acceptance of an agent's m/m relationship, the question about the army rank - all of them add up to a guess that DS stands for DA SILVA, as in daniel from THINK OF ENGLAND. (*insert wild muppet flail here because omg*)

now i need to reread THE SUGARED GAME and pay extra attention to every mention of DS and kim's agency because i need ANY AND ALL info on how daniel's career as a spy might have developed over the course of a few decades after he first met archie curtis, and OMG all this time i've been quietly dying for a sequel or two to think of england but hey, i'll take what i can get?!?!?!?!

thoughts? is this entirely wishful thinking on my part, or am i right - and if i am, what do we think are the chances of kim's boss showing up again in the third will darling book, and is his man likely to make an appearance as well????

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Yes! Daniel is my #1 favorite character in KJ Charles's world and I was so excited to see him. Do you think The Sugared Game is before or after Think of England?

[no_detective]

YAY MINE TOO!!!

think of england happens in 1904, and the sugared game is in... 1922/23, i think? vaguely in the 1920s at any rate. so this is an established boss spy daniel, middle-aged but still fashionable and sharp AF :D

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you! That's very helpful. I haven't read Think of England in a long while. Of course he's still going to be fashionable and sharp, and I sincerely hope he still has his nipple piercing and, of course, his Viking! :)

[no_detective]

that nipple piercing... sigh. i too very much hope that he still has it, and that it's still enjoyed by them both :D

[sorchasilver]

You’re definitely right - KJ has confirmed it’s him - and Bill - on her FB chat group ;)

[no_detective]

oh, thank you! i'm not on FB so i missed that, but i'm glad she confirmed it :D

[aurumcalendula]

I was so excited to see Daniel and Bill! And I think Jimmy Yoxall (or his nephew?) gets mentioned in chapter two.

I'm hoping Daniel (and Archie and Pat and Fen) make an appearance in book three.

[no_detective]

ooooh - missed the mention of jimmy. clearly i'll need to re-read asap :)

i am soooo hopeful we'll get to see archie and daniel from an outsider's perspective in book three! and i am always up for more pat and fen <3

[vae]

oh I didn't pick up on EITHER of those, I need to re-read immediately because both of those would 100% apply!

[no_detective]

i talked to a few friends who are not on social media, and they both said they missed it, so it's definitely subtle enough! but oh, what a lovely surprise to find in this trilogy :)

[jain]

Given how the book ends, I'm really hoping that the third book is about Kim rebuilding the trust he lost and regaining his position in the agency (possibly joined by Will). It seemed to me that Daniel was more disappointed than coldly angry with him, regardless of how he presented himself to Kim and Will. And the first book's mystery plot has basically been resolved, so there has to be something else big that Kim and/or Will is dealing with outside of their romance plotline.

[no_detective]

oooooh, yes - this is some excellent speculation, and i do agree with your view of daniel's actions. the blurb at the end of the sugared game makes it sound like it will be a mystery much closer to home for kim, so their relationship will be tested from that side, but i draw the same kind of hope for kim's professional life thanks to the mention of politics. in their next adventure, perhaps daniel will get a closer look at how kim and will balance each other out, and possibly draw a comparison between their dynamic and uh, something in his own life *nudge wink etc* and decide to (re-)recruit them both? can't wait to read all about it!