DEATH COMES TO DARTMOOR

Plucky Victorian zoologist Miss Merula Merriweather thinks a trip to Dartmoor with Lord Raven Royston will be the relaxation she needs but finds instead danger, murder, and—sea monsters?

Merula’s love for butterflies had earlier involved her and her uncle in all sorts of trouble (The Butterfly Conspiracy, 2018). So when Royston invites her to go with him to meet his friend Charles Oaks and view his collection of global animal specimens, she, along with her maid, Lamb, and Royston’s valet, Bowsprit, head for Dartmoor. But there they meet strange and hostile villagers and a distraught, unwell Oaks. It seems his maid, Tillie, is missing—and a young girl has been found murdered, strangled not by human hands but by something that left puckered marks on her neck. The villagers are sure it was the work of a sea monster, a kraken. More and more complications arise, forcing Merula and Royston to again work as a team to solve the mysteries. The author keeps a light hand on the often silly plot, although she does include a few nice touches: Upon hearing about local Dartmoor legends, Raven remarks, “Something to put into a detective story, then. Strange killings, a murderous hound on the loose. I think that if someone with a talent for words put his hand to it, it could become quite a good tale.”

Sherlock Holmes might have approved of the heroine's love of facts, but one doubts he would consider this tale more than the slightest diversion.