Wigan 1894: A fatal
pit accident claims the lives of several miners, including
the husband of Alice Goodway. Married for only a year and
very much in love, Alice is devastated and soon after starts
to see things, and then conducts séances. Collecting
the money is her husband’s formidable aunt Doris and
a brisk trade is soon being conducted. It seems nearly everybody
has lost a loved one, but a threatening letter has DS Michael
Brennan and his trusty sidekick Constable Jaggery called in
to investigate. Not long afterwards there is a death, but
was the victim the real target?
Move over foggy London! It makes a change to read about somewhere
other than the capital’s well-trodden streets in late
Victorian mysteries, and there are not many novels set in
Wigan. There is nothing generic either about the author’s
almost tangible descriptions of this grim, impoverished mining
town, and short of a time machine reading this is the next
best thing. This is also a rather grim tale akin in tone to
the first one (Striking Murder), set in another bitter
winter and focusing on the characters’ grief. Children,
spouses, friends, lovers have all died tragically and those
left behind are desperate to contact them, not usually with
very positive results. Expect a teasing plot where everybody
is a suspect, but this is also a look at the psychological
fallout from dabbling in this type of occult activity. There
is a sense that ultimately nobody wins; a bleak but inevitable
outcome in a book that packs more of a punch than might be
expected. This series gets better and better, one to
follow wherever it takes the reader next.
Previous reviews for this series:
Striking
Murder #1
Elementary
Murder #2
Sitting
Murder #3
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