Florence Nightingale Intrigue. An Intelligent Victorian mystery!
A Murderous Malady (A Florence Nightingale Mystery2) by Christine Trent
Once again a captivating Florence Nightingale mystery, embedded around the happenings of the First Anglo-Afghanistan War Disaster of 1839-1842 and the cholera epidemic, the Broad Street Outbreak. in 1854.
Florence's friend Liz à Court, wife of Sidney Herbert, the War Secretary and daughter to General Charles à Court-Repington has been shot at and her carriage driver killed whilst she and the General were on their way to the British museum. The question is who would want to harm Liz? For reasons not easily discernible, Sidney has chosen not to involve the police. Instead he asks Florence to find those responsible.
The chase leads Florence from Sidney's home to the desperate slums in the notorious Seven Dials area.
Florence investigations uncover a lady's maid obsessed with Liz's brother, a servant of Sidney's dying from cholera, a mad woman dying from the same disease and a mysterious set of dice, engraved with symbols and letters, "One was a “D,” the second a “G,” and the third a “5.”"
Throughout the investigation Florence's maid Mary is by her side, mostly reluctantly.
Florence also meets physician, John Snow and assistant curate in Soho, Henry Whitehead. Together they trace the progress of the cholera outbreak, eventually deciphering the cause.
We leave Florence, having solved the cause of the attack on Liz's carriage and murders along the way, on the eve of a decision to go to the Crimea to organize "medical care into something humane and competent."
Interestingly, as the plot thickens, we learn more of the British presence in Afghanastan and the resentments that are piled up against the British as their outré behaviours offend the Afghani religious and cultural practices.
Trent has based her writing in solid research of the times, which is flawlessly and competently included to give the novel a true sense of Victorian England and the challenges not only Florence, but many women faced. Of particular note is the inclusion of Mrs Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan Norton, Sydney's ex lover who is publicly fighting her own battles on the topic of divorce and the rights of women.
I thoroughly enjoyed this intelligent Victorian mystery, mixing fact and fiction, adeptly weaving its way through the political and social mores of the time giving solid background to an all encompassing and captivating read.
A Crooked Lane ARC via NetGalley
*****
Florence's friend Liz à Court, wife of Sidney Herbert, the War Secretary and daughter to General Charles à Court-Repington has been shot at and her carriage driver killed whilst she and the General were on their way to the British museum. The question is who would want to harm Liz? For reasons not easily discernible, Sidney has chosen not to involve the police. Instead he asks Florence to find those responsible.
The chase leads Florence from Sidney's home to the desperate slums in the notorious Seven Dials area.
Florence investigations uncover a lady's maid obsessed with Liz's brother, a servant of Sidney's dying from cholera, a mad woman dying from the same disease and a mysterious set of dice, engraved with symbols and letters, "One was a “D,” the second a “G,” and the third a “5.”"
Throughout the investigation Florence's maid Mary is by her side, mostly reluctantly.
Florence also meets physician, John Snow and assistant curate in Soho, Henry Whitehead. Together they trace the progress of the cholera outbreak, eventually deciphering the cause.
We leave Florence, having solved the cause of the attack on Liz's carriage and murders along the way, on the eve of a decision to go to the Crimea to organize "medical care into something humane and competent."
Interestingly, as the plot thickens, we learn more of the British presence in Afghanastan and the resentments that are piled up against the British as their outré behaviours offend the Afghani religious and cultural practices.
Trent has based her writing in solid research of the times, which is flawlessly and competently included to give the novel a true sense of Victorian England and the challenges not only Florence, but many women faced. Of particular note is the inclusion of Mrs Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan Norton, Sydney's ex lover who is publicly fighting her own battles on the topic of divorce and the rights of women.
I thoroughly enjoyed this intelligent Victorian mystery, mixing fact and fiction, adeptly weaving its way through the political and social mores of the time giving solid background to an all encompassing and captivating read.
A Crooked Lane ARC via NetGalley
*****
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