A MURDER AT ROSAMUND'S GATE

A Restoration-era chambermaid has ideas far above her station.

1665. Lucy Campion is fortunate to have a place in the home of Master Hargrave, a magistrate who pays well and treats his servants with exceptional consideration. The household also includes Hargrave's flighty wife and their lawyer son Adam, their daughter Sarah, and their foster son Lucas, who is destined for the church. Lucy’s mundane routine is changed forever when her best friend below stairs, the lovely, flirtatious lady’s maid, Bessie, is murdered. At first Adam is suspected, but then Lucy’s brother is arrested for the crime. Since several other young women have also been murdered, Lucy tries to discover a connection among them that will exonerate him. Lucy can read and write, and her lively curiosity confounds Adam, who finds himself attracted to her while still considering her beneath him. Although Lucy gets herself into some dicey situations trying to find who really killed Bessie, the real danger comes from the family’s battle with the plague that is killing thousands in London. Mistress Hargrave succumbs, but the rest of the family survive and retire to their country estate. When they return to the city, however, there is still a murderer to find.

Calkin’s debut mystery places her unusual detective in a world rich in carefully researched historical detail. Even mystery mavens who winkle out the killer may well enjoy the story anyway.