More new reads...More Sherlock...Deb Crombie...Amelia Peabody...

Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye (2009) No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie (2012)

Gallows View by Peter Robinson (1990)

Amelia Peabody's Egypt: A compendium by Elizabeth Peters, Kristen Whitbread and Dennis Forbes (2003)

Lyndsay Faye's new and highly acclaimed novel The Gods of Gotham is set in 1840's New York during the early days of the police force in that city. A future read but I wanted to read her 1st novel, Dust and Shadow,  more Sherlockiana (see some of my recent blogs). I read her novel with a map of London and a "Ripperology" website at my side. Her novel is well-researched and enjoyable. It is tightly plotted but as in all of the recent Sherlockiana novels, Downey/Law movies, and the BBC TV series (2nd series airing in the US in May), they are interested in giving Sherlock a lot of emotions, sometimes a wife or girlfriend, and perhaps more physicality than is canonical. Now I need to re-read the originals to see what is or is not canon.

I was looking forward to Deb Crombie's new novel and it did not disappoint. There is a ripping mystery involving rowing, posh Henley rowing clubs, and the power hierarchy and sexism at the Met (London Police). Detectives (and new spouses) Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James must combine work and family life as they try to make a good life for themselves and their children while solving dastardly, complex crimes (try that, Ann Romney!) and navigating the tricky waters of the Yard politics. 

In my last blog, I discussed Peter Robinson's latest Before the Poison. I wanted to read his Inspector Banks series, starting with the first, Gallows View. Since the first, he's written a lot of this series, 20 books or so. In the first, Banks and his family have just moved to small town in Yorkshire, where a peeping Tom, angry local feminists, a gorgeous psychologist, and a nasty sociopathic youth gang lead to all kinds of crime - including murder. The small town is full of interesting characters - like an updated Miss Marple would find in council flats and posh new estates. It's good stuff.

Last, Amelia Peabody's Egypt is a fun companion to Elizabeth Peters' archaeological mysteries set in 1880's to 1920's Egypt. It is great fun reading about the actual investigators like Flinders Petrie and Howard Carter and puts some more meat on the bones of Peters' backstories of Egyptology, fashion, suffrage, and espionage. 

Recent reads

Before the Poison, Peter Robinson, 2011
When Maidens Mourn, C.S. Harris, 2012

I had never heard of Peter Robinson, the author of an U.K. police procedural series featuring Inspector Banks,
http://www.inspectorbanks.com/,
when I saw Before the Poison at my local library.

I was drawn to the cover with its enigmatic picture of a woman in a '50s style dress. This novel is a stand-alone, the story of Chris, composer and ex-pat. Brit. come home from living in the U.S. He's recovering from the death of his wife and buys a house in Yorkshire in a deserted spot only to discover it's the house of a woman hanged for murdering her husband after the war. A story perhaps similar to Ruth Ellis, a real life hanged murderess played by Miranda Richardson in a movie some time back. Chris gets pulled further and further into the story of the dead woman and whether or not she killed her husband, and if she did, why.

The setting is atmospheric and well drawn, the post war history skillfully recreated. The dialogue is well written and Chris is an appealing and sympathetic protagonist. The plot is so complex I kept reviewing it in my mind and it really keeps you guessing. This was a great find; I will be looking for the Inspector Banks series.

I love the series by C.S. Harris about the wolflike nobelman, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, who investigates crimes during the English Regency period. They are wonderfully well researched, written, and hard to put down. Harris, the pseudonym for Candace Proctor, a historian of the French Revolution, writes a series that is part police procedural, part thriller, and part romance. They are written in a serial fashion so plenty of questions are left at the end of each one. Ongoing plot lines involve Sebastian's mysterious mother, his family, and his relationship with his new wife Hero, daughter of his enemy Lord Jarvis. They are no regency romances; the stories are much darker and more mysterious.

When Maidens Mourn, the latest, does not disappoint. Sebastian and Hero, an excellent wife for him, become closer while solving the mystery of the death of young female antiquarian friend of Hero's. The archaeology sub plot is cool and the story satisfying. Can't wait for the next one!