The Woman in the Veil
by Laura Joh Rowland
File Size: 1591 KB
Print Length: 314 pages
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (January 7, 2020)
Language: English
ASIN: B07QDJNBJC
Genre: Amateur Sleuth, Historical Mystery, Mystery
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0.
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 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.
Review:
Sarah is a brave female photographer working with a past of secrets and a misfit team. Lord Hugh has been cut from his former society crowd after being caught in a gay scandal. Mick is a teenaged street urchin who has joined with Sarah realizing that he can better himself through education. The team came together as a private detective agency after solving a high-profile case involving the Ripper. Now they serve as a crime scene photograph team hired by a wealthy banker who has taken over The Daily World.
The team is called out to photograph a murder scene of a naked woman lying on the banks of the Thames. The team begins to investigate, examining the site and interviewing witnesses but as Sarah is photographing the woman, she realizes the victim is alive. The woman’s face has been viciously slashed, and no one knows who she is. When she wakes from the coma she apparently has amnesia.
Sarah’s fiancé, Detective Sergeant Barrett often steps in to help the team or to keep them in line. He allows Sarah to sit in as he interviews people who have come forward claiming to know “Sleeping Beauty”. Three particular parties are the most likely relatives. But Sarah and her friends worry that Sleeping Beauty may be in danger if she returns to a home where she has already escaped violence.
Sarah and Barrett disagree on whom they think Sleeping Beauty is which creates tension. Meanwhile, Barrett’s recent promotion is resented by a rival who takes every chance to go after Barrett, Sarah, and their friends. When one of the possible relatives ends up dead at the house where the team is staying, Sarah becomes the prime suspect. The investigation intensifies as the team realizes they must solve the mysteries that remain if they want to save Sarah from prison or the gallows!
I quickly liked these distinct characters with their difficult pasts. Ms. Rowland doesn’t shy away from the dark and messy details of the era as her descriptions create scenes of smell and sound as well as sight. The story has good mystery and tension that kept me pushing to discover who committed the crimes and how things would work out for the beleaguered team. The author wove in an introduction to the characters, so this read fine as a standalone although it did raise my interest in book 1, The Ripper. I recommend this as an engaging read to fans of mystery and Victorian history.
Source: NetGalley 2019. This qualifies for 2020TBR and 2020NetGalley goals.
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