On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member. However, I have read every other book in this series and would have bought it anyway - every one a winner!
In a Nutshell: Victorian Murder Mystery
This is the eighth book in Carol Hedges' Victorian murder mystery, featuring officers of the law Stride and Cully. The story starts with a mysterious hanging and the theft of rare Japanese artefacts, and takes the crime-fighting duo to the seediest areas of London and then off to more upmarket districts to see out the Black brothers, Herbert and Munro; Munro runs gambling clubs, while Herbert is often abroad, taking care of his trading empire - but what is he selling?
Running through the main story are a couple of juicy sub-plots - that of a romantic novelist accused by an aristocrat of using his marital dramas as a plot for her novels, and the tale of Izzy, a ten-year-old who works painting furniture for dolls' houses by day, and washing dishes by night, then goes home to share a mattress with her uncaring mother in an unsavoury boarding house.
Fame & Fortune is up there with the rest of this series, a delight to read, as Ms Hedges spins her story around artfully-drawn characters, at the same time highlighting the social injustices of the day (Izzy's story, in particular, is heartrending), and the culture of the Victorian era, throughout all echelons of life; the occasional comparison with modern times is impossible not to draw.
Another winner; if you haven't read any of this series, they're all completely stand-alone, even though certain threads are carried on throughout. Highly recommended.
Thank you for this lovely review, Terry. I am so glad you enjoyed the new book!
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome, and the pleasure was mine! x
DeleteThank you Terry.
ReplyDelete