Two crime solvers venture into Victorian London’s East End to investigate a murder in this “excellent first novel by a British author who has a bright future” (Mystery Scene Magazine). March Middleton has moved to Gower Street to live with her curmudgeonly guardian, Sidney Grice, London’s most famous personal detective. She is intelligent, witty, and talkative. He thinks young women should be … thinks young women should be seen and not heard. But he grudgingly allows her to join his latest murder case: A young woman is dead and her loving husband is the only suspect.
Their investigations lead the pair to the darkest alleys of the East End: Every twist leads Sidney Grice to think the husband guilty, but March is convinced that he is innocent. And as the case threatens to foment civil unrest, Sidney Grice finds his reputation is not the only thing in mortal danger . . .
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It’s not often that I don’t like a book but, this is one of those few times.
Granted, it’s not the books itself. It’s well written and the plot is good. However, the main character is SO repulsive, it was all I could do to finish it.
The dust jacket compared it to Sherlock Holmes. I love Holmes. I thought I would love this book. Far from it.
Again, it is a decent mystery, if you can just get past the terrible personality of the main detective.
A Holmes and Watson-like detective mystery set in Victorian London. SIdney Grice is a detective and guardian to a young lady named March. The many references to the Conan Doyle stories and the dry humor in the novel was enjoyable. I’d like to read the rest of this series.
3.5/5
Hmmm. Rating this was tough. I enjoyed the humor and the mystery was fine if pretty predictable. What I did not enjoy was the almost pervasive sexist attitudes toward the young heroine March, and the often unfeeling/abrasive character of her guardian Mr. Grice. If you can get past those annoyances, this fairly gory murder mystery set in 1880s London is quite good. Might even be worth me reading the next in series.
I read the book some time ago but loved it. The characters are very unusual and the plot carries you through the whole book, I enjoyed reading it.
This is a Victorian era who-dun-it and involves a young woman, March Middleton, and her guardian, Sidney Grice, a private detective working to solve the murder of a young woman. It is a very quick and easy read and keeps one engaged in the story.
interesting and likeable characters, a great mystery. Excellent writing. Will look for more books in this series.
This is a set of four stories. I have read two of them. Saving the rest for later.
The central character of this Victorian mystery, Sydney Grice is rude and irascible, filled with knowledge of trivial details, and in short is Sherlock Holmes on steroids. This adds a unique twist to a good story without quite being absurd. The plot was complex and interesting, the conclusion was well conceived. I like a lengthy book which this is.
I am fond of historical mysteries and this was a good one.
Blatant rip off of Sherlock Holmes that seems to try to pass it off at the end by implying that this is where Conan Doyle got the idea for his stories. I am aware original stories are hard to find but this author didn’t even seem to try.
very entertaining mystery
Will definitely read more in this series!
Well done pastiche based quite loosely on the Sherlock Holmes theme. Witty and fun to read.
I enjoy historical novels. This one featuring a clever and feisty young woman, breaking with the conventional role assigned women was enjoyable. The characters were interesting – not one dimensional. And the mystery had enough twists and turns to keep me interested and guessing.
I didn’t really care for the detective. But I liked his wards. He was too much of a snob and even though they were brought up that way in those days I still didn’t like him. He was good at solving the crime though. Will give him that
The author thought about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, put their characteristics into a hat, added two sexes, threw in some annoying behavior, mixed them up, and built two characters out of the random combinations. By the time he introduced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it was no longer a surprise.
Cleverly written and witty account of feisty young lady’s adventures in Victorian, male-dominated, England. Fun and enjoyable
Took me a couple chapters to like it, but in the end…I’m in love with the characters!
Well worth the read.
I really, really enjoyed this book. It was like a Sherlock Holmes with a female Watson apprentice. Liked the developement of the ward character.
Very different than I expected but now I’m hooked on this series. Great characters.