SEASON OF DEATH

Victorian detectives tackle a tangle of baffling cases, from posh to plebian.

November, 1895. Investigators Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn venture to the lively Shoreditch district of London in the middle of the night in search of the infamous Dawn Gang, which has been burglarizing local shops. The duo gets some helpful intel from Dutch, a streetwise beggar. As if on cue, Llewelyn is struck in the head and a fight with the gang ensues, in which “the Marquess of Queensbury Rules had no part.” After gang members spot the police and flee, Barker and Llewelyn are hauled in and roughly questioned. Locating Dutch seems essential to their exoneration. A bizarre coda to the episode comes via Chief Detective Inspector Poole, a friend who reports that all the gang members have been arrested and have hanged themselves in their cells. Case reluctantly closed, if not explained. Meanwhile, Barker and Llewelyn are engaged by stuffy Lord Danvers to discreetly locate the missing sister of his fragile, distraught wife. Before she vanished, May Evans spoke vaguely about leaving London and going to Rome. Barely has this investigation begun when the sleuths are drawn back to the Tenderloin by an explosion in a railway tunnel. Barker and Llewelyn’s shaggy 16th adventure is held together by Llewelyn’s engaging narration, which combines the formality of Dr. Watson with the smirk of Archie Goodwin. And of course, the colorful Dutch makes a return, linking the cases.

A satisfying period romp told with elegance and panache.