Private detectives Grand & Batchelor's latest case draws them into the arcane world of high art and high society in this compelling Victorian mystery.
London. May, 1878. Private enquiry agents Matthew Grand and James Batchelor have been hired by the artist James Whistler to dig into the past of outspoken critic John Ruskin, with whom he has an ongoing feud. Not particularly optimistic of success, the two detectives are sidetracked from the investigation by the murder of a prostitute in nearby Cremorne Gardens. Her body posed on a park bench, a book on birth control sitting on her lap, Clara Jenkins is not the first young woman to have met a similarly grisly fate - and she won't be the last.
Could there be a connection between the Cremorne killer and their art world case? With the investigation heading nowhere fast, Grand comes up with a decidedly unorthodox plan to ensnare the killer. But even the best-laid plans have a nasty habit of going catastrophically awry ...
M.J. Trow is a military historian by training and the author of the long-running Inspector Lestrade and 'Mad Max' Maxwell detective series, as well as the Kit Marlowe Tudor mystery series. He lives on the Isle of Wight.
Title: Last Nocturne: 7 (A Grand & Batchelor Victorian Mystery)
Author: Trow, M.J.
ISBN: 9781780291307
Binding:
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Publication Date: 2020-12-31
Number of Pages: 224
Weight: 0.5101 kg
Grand and Batchelor's engaging, yin-and-yang partnership .combines with the book's lickety-split plot and plenty of gentle humor to deliver a treat for historical-mystery readers * Booklist *
A gripping story packed with a palpable sense of danger, and a shocker of an ending, make for absorbing reading * Booklist on The Black Hills *
Provides juicy portraits of several historic figures * Kirkus Reviews on The Black Hills *
An engaging style and a gripping plot ... a sure bet for historical-mystery fans * Booklist on The Ring *
A shrewdly layered puzzle * Kirkus Reviews on The Ring *
The complex plot is gripping and more than a little chilling - though with agreeable flashes of subtle humor. Trow ... knows to mix period details and distinctive characters in just the right proportions * Booklist on The Island *
A witty and clever tale * Kirkus Reviews on The Island *