London 1882: Alec
Londale has come back from his posting overseas and is pursuing
his dream to be a reporter. Working for the Pall Mall Gazette,
he is sent to cover the story of a house fire where the owner
died, but this ordinary tragedy soon takes a turn for the weird.
The autopsy reveals that somebody has stolen part of the victim’s
brain, and a tipoff as to more possible cases ends in another
death. Soon the bodies are piling up, and Alec has to discover
whodunit since the police don’t seem to be getting on
well with their own investigation…
The late nineteenth century is a departure for Simon Beaufort
aka Susanna Gregory who normally favors earlier periods. Fans
of her considerable output will be pleased that there is the
usual rather madcap mix of detection, humor, lots of bodies
and larger-than-life characters. Hapless Alec is a gentleman
without a gentleman’s income doing a job not considered
very respectable, and he lives reluctantly with his barrister
brother. At his side is the formidable Hulda Friederichs (based
on a real person) and together they have to find out why anybody
would want to steal brains while juggling other assignments.
It is not hard to guess the why, but who is a different matter
and there are red herrings aplenty, as well as a lot of detective
work and even some action. The action is a couple of fights,
and it is rather hard to see how two people can quickly get
the better of a group of seasoned toughs but this, as well as
the plot, are all part of what makes this author’s work
a bit different. If you have enjoyed this author’s other
work or fancy trying something lively albeit rather farfetched,
then this will probably appeal.
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