A killer who once stalked Florence Nightingale’s nurses seems to be resurrected in this satisfying thriller.
The second historical mystery featuring former chief detective inspector Charles Fields revolves around the heroic work of Florence Nightingale.
In The Darwin Affair (2019), Mason introduced readers to a fictional London detective who was the inspiration for the intrepid Inspector Bucket in Charles Dickens’ Bleak House—indeed, Dickens appeared as a character. Fields returns in this book, set in 1867, no longer a member of the Metropolitan Police but working as a private detective. He’s been hired “by a member of Parliament who harbored misgivings concerning his much younger wife,” and Fields quickly determines she seems to be having an affair with a politician of the opposition party. But Fields’ surveillance leads to his discovering her body after she’s been strangled. The most disturbing detail for him is a scrap of cloth, embroidered with a rose, left inside her mouth. He’s seen such scraps before, several of them, when he was dispatched in 1855 to Crimea to investigate a series of attacks on the nurses working there under the command of the famous, fearless Florence Nightingale. Although the wounded troops revere them for their loving care, the “medical men and the military brass had no time for Nightingale or her women.” When those women start to die, Fields’ pursuit turns urgent, and he returns to London only after the man responsible is dead. Or so he thought. Now, 12 years later, women are dying again just as the issue of women’s suffrage heats up. His experience in Crimea has had lasting effects on him, not least of which is his marriage to Jane Rolly, one of Nightingale’s nurses, but now it all comes rushing back. The book’s first part, set mainly in Crimea, is compelling, in part because Nightingale herself is a fascinating character. The later section is not quite as absorbing, largely because Nightingale fades into the background as Fields chases both the killer and the connection between the two sets of crimes. It does boast a blockbuster ending in subterranean London, rich historical detail, and a cast of real characters, from Benjamin Disraeli to Dickens himself.
A killer who once stalked Florence Nightingale’s nurses seems to be resurrected in this satisfying thriller.Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9781643750392
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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