Publishers Weekly
11/07/2022
Set in 1891 London, Rowland’s disappointing seventh Victorian mystery (after 2022’s Garden of Sins) depends on an improbable premise: Sarah Bain Barrett and two colleagues who are “crime photographers and reporters for the Daily World newspaper, covering mainly the East End,” have a special arrangement with the police: in exchange for publicizing police investigations to help them “catch killers,” the Daily World is given confidential information. Barrett hopes this arrangement will help crack a serial killer case after a woman’s body, apparently the latest victim of the Thames Torso Murderer, washes up at her feet while she’s covering an accident on the Thames. But the officer in charge, Insp. Edmund Reid, who believes that the Torso Murderer and Jack the Ripper are the same and that Barrett is withholding information about the Ripper, cuts her newspaper out of the inquiry. Aided by her husband, Thomas, a detective sergeant conveniently assigned to Reid’s Torso Task Force, Barrett and her colleagues search for the truth. The plot construction and characterizations fall short of the standard set by the author’s superior Sano Ichiro series. Historical mystery fans can safely pass. Agent: Pam Ahearn, Ahearn Agency. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Praise for River of Fallen Angels:
“Rich characters, a you-are-there sense of realism, [and] a captivating story . . . A must-read for both the author’s fans and all lovers of Victorian mysteries.”
—Booklist, starred review
“A brisk, atmospheric whodunit.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Rowland excels at evoking the bleak atmosphere of late Victorian London.”
—Historical Novel Society
“A solid mystery . . . Fans of the series will not be disappointed.”
—Red Carpet Crash
Praise for the Victorian mysteries:
“Gritty, imaginative, and full of nail-biting suspense."
—Tasha Alexander, New York Times bestselling author
"Laura Joh Rowland was able to bring Victorian England into such vivid life, and a story we all know into new relief. This is a fantastic read."
—Charles Finch, bestselling author of The Inheritance
“A dark, seductive peek into the dangerous underbelly of Victorian London.”
—C.S. Harris, bestselling author of the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries
“Tense, pacy and compelling."
—Stephen Gallagher, critically acclaimed author of The Kingdom of Bones and The Bedlam Detective
"Rowland knows just how to [put] a new twist on old tropes with her witty sleuth, while never sacrificing historical integrity."
—Library Journal starred review
“The characters are beautifully drawn; the dialogue sparkles; the setting is vividly rendered."
—Booklist starred review
“Rowland’s Victorian London is fascinating and her team of irregulars unmatched."
—Kirkus Reviews
“Well-crafted...Rowland blends acute psychological observation and meticulous historical research to explore the conflicts faced by an independent woman in Victorian society.”
—Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
2022-10-26
A shutterbug sleuth pursues a brutal serial killer on the loose in Victorian London.
April 1891. Sarah Barrett, a photographer for the Daily World, is shooting a construction worker who dangles precariously from London’s Tower Bridge when she and a crowd of onlookers spot some body parts floating in the Thames below—remnants of what appears to be the latest of the Torso Murders. Having already solved the mystery of Jack the Ripper, Sarah finds herself drawn to the challenge of untangling this series of crimes as well. Her probe triggers the first threat to her post-honeymoon bliss with DS Thomas Barrett, her husband of less than a year. Thomas is clearly troubled but unwilling to share the reason why. Over the course of Sarah’s previous cases, Rowland developed an engaging cast of supporting characters whom she introduces incrementally here so that new readers won’t feel left behind. Sarah’s flanked by Mick O’Reilly, who began as a Holmes-ian street urchin and has evolved into a mature, if impetuous, sidekick, and Lord Hugh Staunton, her longtime friend and confidant, exiled by his family because of his homosexuality. Sir Gerald Mariner, owner of the Daily World, seems always on the brink of firing Sarah because of her sleuthing; Inspector Edmund Reid of Scotland Yard is the perpetual rival whom she regularly beats to the solution. Sarah’s investigative trail takes her through the city’s Tenderloin, which is home to more victims and an array of flamboyant suspects.
A brisk, atmospheric whodunit that continues the development of Rowland’s core cast.
