Victorian mystery novels are one of my favorite ‘escape’ genres. I love being transported to a different time and place and for some reason, Victorian England is a favorite for me.
I actually listened to the audio version of this book on my daily walks and for the most part it was a nice diversion from everyday life and a good way to give my brain a break from the norm while also providing some interesting characters, drama, and mystery. Surprisingly, this story was almost equal parts family drama and mystery solving which in my experience is rare in Victorian mystery novels. Usually, these books focus squarely on the investigator(s) and the investigation rather than the family drama surrounding other characters in the story. While at times I became a little annoyed at the irritating drama within the family, by the end of the novel I found myself caring what happened to them and interested in the resolutions of their internal squabbles almost as much as I cared about the detective solving the murder mystery.
Overall, I found this story captivating enough to keep me looking forward to my daily walks to hear the next installment. Some of the family drama was petty and irritating (but that is often the case in real life) and the ‘love story’ was lacking in depth and had a rather sudden resolution which was a bit of a jolt to the reader because it didn’t feel in-line with the depth of feeling the reader had come to expect from the characters.
I may, or may not pick up the next book in the series, have to wait and see…
Read on my friends!
-Haddi
