Award-winning author Laura Joh Rowland is back with the fourth in her critically acclaimed Victorian mysteries where the case of a mutilated “Sleeping Beauty” washes ashore in London.London, June 1890.Sarah Bain and her friends Lord Hugh Staunton and Mick O’Reilly are crime scene photographers for the Daily World newspaper. After solving a sensational murder, they’re under pressure to deliver … under pressure to deliver another big story. On a foggy summer night, they’re called to the bank of the river Thames. The murder victim is an unidentified woman whose face has been slashed. But as Sarah takes photographs, she discovers that the woman is still alive.
The case of “Sleeping Beauty” becomes a public sensation, and three parties quickly come forward to identify her: a rich, sinister artist who claims she’s his wife; a mother and her two daughters who co-own a nursing home and claim she’s their stepdaughter/sister; and a precocious little girl who claims Sleeping Beauty is her mother. Which party is Sleeping Beauty’s rightful kin? Is someone among them her would-be killer?
Then Sleeping Beauty awakens–with a severe case of amnesia. She’s forgotten her name and everything else about herself. But she recognizes one of the people who’ve claimed her. Sarah is delighted to reunite a family and send Sleeping Beauty home–until one of the claimants is murdered. Suddenly, Sarah, her motley crew of friends, and her fiancé Detective Sergeant Barrett are on the wrong side of the law. Now they must identify the killer before they find themselves headed for the gallows.
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The Woman in the Veil bu Laura Joh Rowland is a fabulously intricate historical fiction murder mystery set in London 1890. This is the 4th in the Victorian Mysteries Series.
The main character is Miss Sarah Bain, a photographer for a London newspaper. Sarah, with the help of her housemates/friends/coworkers (Lord Hugh Staunton and Mick O’Reilly, continue to get involved into complicated and dangerous scenarios due to their past, their penchant for seeking out trouble and danger unwillingly, and their occupation of photographing and investigating crime scenes. Add the love interest of Sarah’s, Detective Sergeant Barrett, and Hugh’s Tristan, in addition to finding out the identity of the “Sleeping Beauty” they have stumbled upon, and how the mystery woman ended up in their company, makes for a most excellent read.
There are even more twists and turns, and I cannot wait to read the next installment.
I love Sarah and Barrett and their chemistry is undeniable. I love the budding relationship of Sarah and Sally, and hope to see more of her in the future as well.
Great plot, great and impressive characters, and an intricate and intriguing mystery, gives the reader a fabulous journey.
5/5 stars
The Woman in the Veil A Victorian Mystery by Laura Joh Rowland is Historical Mystery Fiction that will leave you wanting more. Rowland sets her scenes well, not mincing words so that you can almost see the London mist or the rat man with his Terrier out hunting. This story is an on the edge mystery complete with thrills and adventures. I enjoy how the settings, time, place and characters are so real historically. Old secrets and eccentric characters are the norm. I was hooked on her Victorian Mystery Series with the first book The Ripper‘s Shadow in 2017. Rowland‘s series does not have to be read in order but the reader will have a better understanding if they are. Dark secrets are revealed and mysteries persist. I can’t wait for the next book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book. 5 Stars
This is an especially complex story.
Rowland has, once again, created an amazingly detailed “world” and peopled it with fascinating people.
There is the woman whose identity they are trying to determine and the three most likely prospects and their families.
It is complicated enough that I will not offer any further comments but to say it’s a rip snorting read!
Sent to photograph a murder scene for the newspaper she works for, Sarah Bain is utterly shocked when the victim turns out to be not actually dead. She winds up investigating the case of the amnesiac the media dub ‘Sleeping Beauty’ instead, wanting to help the injured young woman get back to her loved ones. With three different people coming forward claiming to be the next of kin, though, Sarah has her work cut out for her figuring out who’s telling the truth… and why the others are lying.
The author has created a richly detailed world here, with a fascinatingly diverse cast of characters it’s nice to see in a historical novel. With a gay principal side character and several people of color represented, the cast of this book looks much as Victorian London might actually have appeared. The plot is fascinating, if far-fetched, and the only problem I really had is that way too much reference is given to events in previous books of the series, which I haven’t read. If you’re a devotee of the series you’ll already know just what Sarah’s crew had to do with Jack the Ripper, but I was completely bemused by lots of sly hints that didn’t actually ever sum up what had happened. Yes, the plot arc of this book stood on its own, but there are obviously several overarching series plots and with the failure to recap past events, I don’t think it’s a good idea to read this book without having read the earlier books in the series.
That said… I did really enjoy it, and I do want to go back and read the rest of the series, and I absolutely would read more of them, too. So with the caveat of Don’t Start Here, I’m still going to give this five stars.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.
This series just keeps getting better and better! An eclectic band of what? Private investigators? Cast-outs? Newspaper reporters? Occasional criminals? This band of sleuths become involved in murder and mayhem and mysteries which are both complex and intriguing as they go about their daily lives in Victorian London.
There’s a lot of characters operating under mistaken/fraudulent identity, lost family members, deep dark family secrets . . . What a ride! Sarah Bain is a photographer for a local news rag. Her companions are a former street urchin and a deposed Lord with “unnatural” sexual leanings. Sarah is engaged to a mostly honest cop. Which is not ideal, as she has been known to commit flagrant crimes in the heat of taking out the bad guy.
I love this series: it is engaging, complex and leaves me wanting more. Beautifully researched with London being a character on its own. This can be read as a stand-alone, but I know you’ll want to read the rest as well!
The Woman In The Veil is the fourth book in the Victorian Mystery series.
Sarah Bain, Lord Staunton, and young Mick O’Reilly are headed to a seedier part of London, along the bank of the Thames, to report on the naked body of a woman that has been found. As the police are collecting evidence and Sarah is taking pictures of the body, she notices what she thinks is a sign of life in the female. She is barely breathing and is taken to the hospital in a coma. The doctors stitch up the damage from the beating the female had taken and the hope is that she can recover. When she comes out of the coma it is found that she is suffering from amnesia.
Sarah’s boss, Sir Gerald Mariner editor of the Daily World newspaper, plans to run a story on the unknown victim and decided to call her Sleeping Beauty until her identity can be determined. Meanwhile Sarah’s fiance Constable Bennett, despite an unsurmountable work-load, has been assigned the investigation by his boss, Reid. Reid has it in for Sarah and Bennett for a while and will do whatever he can to make it difficult Sarah and her crew. Reid also has it in for Bennett after got a promotion to detective, while Reid wanted him fired after a previous case.
Sarah, Lord Staunton, and Mick are hoping they can find the person who assaulted “Sleeping Beauty” before they can finish the job.
Another wonderful addition to this exciting page-turning series with interesting and believable characters.
I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.
“THE WOMAN IN THE VEIL” BY Laura Joh Rowland
A wonderful historical mystery series that I thoroughly enjoyed as a standalone. This is my first time to read this series from this author and I am very impressed. I really enjoyed reading this historical Victorian mystery sub genre. The setting is in 1890’s London and the trio from the Daily World newspaper try to solve a crime scene. I enjoyed the clever plot and exciting story line. The characters were fun to read and likeable that I will enjoy following in this series. I enjoy this so much, I will be reading the backlist for this series. I enjoyed how Rowland was able to create the world of that time in London, with the gothic atmosphere, dialogue and amazing characters. I highly recommend this series!!
I received a free electronic copy of this excellent historical novel from Netgalley, Laura Joh Rowland, and Crooked Lane Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend Laura Joh Rowland to friends and family. She writes an excellent mystery with authentic Victorian England details and background, in a story that is hard to put down.
We spend our time in Londons’ East End in 1890. The novels preceding this one – Victorian Mystery 1-2-3, involve some of these same protagonists and the Ripper, and there are a couple of other series Rowland has covered well. She is going on my authors to watch for list. I love finding someone I newly appreciate with a long backlist of stories to tell.
Venetia is a young lass who robs the scenes from the adults in this tale. She’s a girl after your heart. Most of the protagonists are working on the side of right. There are a couple of bad cops, and a landlord or two who need a talking to, a couple of really bad people to sort out, but for the most part you will enjoy everyone in this story. The Gang who do backup for our intrepid photographer are a good crew who work well together and try to cover all the angles. As with most people, each has its own little peccadillos to muddle through, making them more approachable. Altogether, a good, fast read. And if you had any doubt about the benefits of modern sewage and septic systems, this novel gives you a hint of the smells of yesteryear…
The genre of historical mysteries is one of my favorites and the Victorian series written by Laura Joh Rowland is at the top of my list. If you are new to this series, no worries, it works fine as a stand alone. This is the fourth in the series and the latest puzzle for Sarah Bain, Mick and Lord Hugh Staunton. The body of a woman has been found on the banks of the Themes, below a pub. When they arrive, people from the pub are milling around, gawking at her naked body as the tide starts to rise. Sarah sets up her camera knowing that time is of the essence – soon the river will wash away what little evidence the onlookers haven’t messed up. The woman will be almost impossible to identify as her face has been disfigured by a severe beating. Just as the body is about to be removed to the morgue, Sarah, while taking detailed photos, discovers that the poor woman is still alive. When they arrive at the hospital and the doctor has assessed her injuries, he says she won’t last long and Sarah decides to stay by her side, holding her hand. Surprisingly, the woman responds to Sarah by squeezing her hand and Sarah is even more determined to identify her and find out who wanted her dead.
As they investigate on their own, Sarah’s fiance, Det. Sgt. Thomas Barrett is given the case. The powers that be on the police force want him to fail and his case load is enough to drown any other policeman. He only has one assistant and needs all the help he can get. Sarah, Mick and Hugh share more than living quarters, they share a talent for tracking down killers. When the newspaper they work for prints the details of the Jane Doe in hopes of identifying her, three possibilities emerge. When Jane Doe is able, she claims one of the identities but the three parties disagree and it remains a puzzle for them to solve.
I enjoy the character of Sarah, a woman who lives outside the social norms. She is very strong and very intelligent, making her way through life as a very talented photographer. Her partners, fourteen year old Mick, a former street urchin and Hugh, a disgraced Lord, turfed out by his family for being homosexual, share a home and shock society no end. Each one of them is making their own way, society be darned. I really like that in a character. The Victorian setting is my favorite of the genre and when it’s a part of a very well written mystery with multiple threads going and well developed characters, it isn’t hard for me to bestow five stars on it.
The novel starts off strong. The plot revolves around this “sleeping beauty” and where she belongs. Is it with the rather nasty Mrs. Ester Oliphant and her daughters Frances and Faith? With the tempestuous artist August Legrand? With the precocious (and immensely likable) Venetia Napier and her aunt? It’s an intriguing question, though Sarah and her fiance DS Barrett disagree as to which claimant is the right one.
But there are multiple other subplots, some of which are distracting. After a while, backstory from a previous case threatens to overwhelm the current story. Apparently, a previous novel in the series dealt with the Jack the Ripper case. Sarah’s first person, present tense narrative constantly refers to this case, including in an emotionally tense and meaningful scene near the end. Unfortunately, as I haven’t read that previous book, the significance of this scene is lost for me.
There are lots of things to like about the book, though.
Sarah is a likable character. As most modern mysteries set in the Victorian era do, the female protagonist holds modern views of sex, gender, race, and sexual orientation. She goes to places where proper Victorian ladies don’t go and holds a job that would make a proper Victorian lady faint in horror. Overall, she’s supposed to be fighting conventional wisdom about women’s place being in the home and all that.
Twenty-first century readers wouldn’t read a novel about a Victorian-era female holding that time period’s prejudices (too offensive for our tastes) or behaving like a “proper Victorian lady” (mostly because a proper Victorian lady would leave the crime fighting to men.)
But Sarah is unusual in that she’s forced by circumstances to work as a crime scene photographer. (Most of these crime-fighting Victorian heroines apparently have no need to work.) This means that she’s not investigating out of boredom or curiosity, but out of necessity; she needs to solve this mystery and get the sensational news story to keep her job. She’s compassionate and fearless and strong-willed.
And she’s a Victorian CSI: how cool is that? I never thought about crime scene photography having a place in investigations prior to the 20th century and it’s fascinating to read about Sarah’s profession.
The other characters are also well-characterized. The new characters seemed a bit more vivid than the returning cast. Venetia, in particular, is a delight to spend time with. It is a lot of fun to root against the awful Oliphants and the equally awful Legrand and hope that all four will get their comeuppance.
However, there are times when Rowland explains certain things that avid historical fiction readers should already know. For example, Sarah tells us that homosexual relations are against civil and religious laws, and that exposure in the press would lead to scandals and social ostracism. Maybe I’m wrong, but surely many fans of Victorian-era settings already know this. Do we really need to be told this? Simply showing the effects on Hugh and his lover Tristan is powerful enough.
Because Rowland is excellent at showing this era in all its self-righteous pettiness and squalor. She shows how difficult things were for homosexuals: constant threats of physical harm, vicious tabloid gossip, and an unforgiving social hierarchical system where no one who falls from grace can redeem themselves. She deftly shows the lack of options for women, particularly poor ones. She’s terrific at using time period details for developing characters, advancing the plot, and exposing the prejudices of a society too concerned with appearances and not enough with substance.
Rowland has the ability to recreate a time period so that it lives in our minds. It’s one of her many strengths as a novelists. It’s the reason the Sano Ichiro series (set in feudal Japan) is so beguiling: that series opens the door to a world that many modern Westerners know almost nothing about.
But Victorian England is much more familiar to me. Multiple other mystery series take place in that time period and some feature a female protagonist. Taking this book as representative of this series, I question whether the Sarah Bain series does enough to stand out from the crowd.
This is the fourth book in this Victorian mystery series but it’s the first that I’ve read. While I read this book as a standalone, it’s a good idea to to read at least one of the previous books in this series, particularly whichever one delves into the Jack the Ripper case.
Overall, The Woman in the Veil is a good novel. There is a lot to like. Fans of historical mysteries might really enjoy this. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
Note: Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for a copy of The Woman in the Veil in exchange for an honest review.
historical-novel, historical-research, amateur-sleuth, murder-investigation, mutilation
This is a book 4, works as a stand alone, and instigates the curiosity to read earlier books in the series AFTER finishing this one. Sara is a press photographer and investigator in the Victorian era and is ably assisted by friends Hugh (a disgraced peer), and former street urchin, Mick, as well as fiancé Detective Barrett. At first, the victim is presumed dead, but Sara discovers that the battered and naked woman with her face all slashed is alive and comatose. Police help get the victim to hospital and it is later discovered that she has no memories of self let alone the event that brought her to this state. The investigation is further ordered by the editor of the newspaper they work for, and Detective Barrett is also on the case. Good investigation, a look into the social aspects of the time, and a bit of romance as well. I loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
This is fourth book in this series. I really enjoyed the story, it had mystery and a bit of romance. Looking forward to their next adventure! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy!