Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Hydra
Published: 2017
Reviewer Rating: 
Reviewer: SJ Higbee
Have you read this book?
Why not rate it! 
Loading...
He makes the startling accusation while pointing toward Miss Lane… then he drops dead. Thus begins the strangest case yet to land–quite literally–on the doorstep of Jesperson and Lane.
According to the coroner, Charles Manning died of a heart attack–despite being in perfect health. Could he have been struck down by a witch’s spell? The late Mr. Manning’s address book leads Jesperson and Lane to the shrieking pits of Aylmerton, an ancient archaeological site reputed to be haunted by a vengeful ghost. There they sift through the local characters, each more suspicious than the last: Manning’s associate, Felix Ott, an English folklore enthusiast; Reverend Ringer, a fierce opponent of superstition; and the Bulstrode sisters, a trio of beauties with a reputation for witchcraft. But when an innocent child goes missing, suddenly Jesperson and Lane aren’t merely trying to solve one murder–they’re racing to prevent another.
I haven’t read the first book in this series, but while I have clearly missed a slice of the adventure, that didn’t hamper my understanding or enjoyment of this story. Tuttle doesn’t hang about–she tips us straight into the case which I appreciated. While this series has been compared with the Sherlock Holmes adventures, I don’t think that Miss Lane, the narrator of this case, is all that much like John Watson. She isn’t overly gushing about Jasper Jesperson’s detecting skills, for starters–indeed, there are times when she is quite sharp about him, which I enjoyed.
The other aspect that I hadn’t expected and very much liked–while both Jesperson and Lane are middle-class and reasonably comfortably off, that doesn’t prevent Tuttle from lifting the facade on apparent Victorian respectability by depicting a young serving girl’s plight after suffering a rape. The detective duo also uncover a shocking lack of respect towards women who have the temerity to refuse or thwart a couple of apparently eligible men, who portray themselves as perfectly reasonable, educated gentlemen. Miss Lane isn’t particularly happy about the state of affairs, but isn’t overly surprised.
What it reinforced for me is how much women were simply not regarded as on a par with men. Not only did they not have the same protection in law, they were not felt to be capable of the same understanding or intellect as a man–so when a woman demonstrated any independence of spirit, she frequently incurred anger at her temerity–how dare she defy him!
That said, I don’t want you to go away thinking this entertaining, engrossing whodunit is focusing on the gender inequality of the time–it is a mere side issue in this adventure. An adventure full of twists and turns as Lane and Jesperson then find themselves desperately looking for a baby. And the resolution to that puzzle had my jaw dropping…
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and will definitely be tracking down the first installment in this series. Recommended for anyone who enjoys their historical crime series with a twist of fantasy.
Share
Follow
