The Mummy of Mayfair is a cozy historical mystery and the second to feature the irregular detectives by Jeri Westerson. Released 2nd July 2024 by Severn House, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
This is a pastiche novel set in 1895 featuring a pair of private investigators, one of whom was a former "Baker St. Irregular" street urchin in service to Sherlock Holmes. He's a young adult at this point, and doing fairly well as a private enquiry agent. His partner (coincidentally named Watson) is a brilliant young black man with a keen scientific mind. Much of the character driven plot is provided in the banter and interactions between the two young men.
It's a cozy, so the violence occurs off-page. There are some inevitable instances of open racism, given Watson's ethnicity, but they're not totally overpowering, and they're handled sensitively. There's quite a lot of plot which turns on Victorian England's obsession with (and looting of) Egyptian artifacts at the time, but specific details are easily gleaned from context.
The author does a pretty good job with the dialogue and vernacular of the time period, and has included a helpful glossary for modern readers who might not be familiar with the street slang. It's unquestionably a modern cozy for modern readers, but it's diverting, light, and fun.
There's even a forbidden undeniable attraction between the daughter of an upper class scion and a former street urchin with lots of winsome glances and heavy sighs. The romance aspect doesn't overpower the story, but it is present.
Four stars. It's not canonical, and real Conan Doyle afficionados won't be fooled for a minute, but for everyone else, it's fun and engaging.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
#CampNetGalley #BookishScavengerHunt #BookishPhotoChallenge #NetGalley #SummerPhotoChallenge
No comments:
Post a Comment