Granger's engaging second Victorian mystery to feature ladies' companion Lizzie Martin offers a more compelling plot than its predecessor, The Companion(2007). Martin accepts a short-term assignment to attend to young Lucy Craven, who's recently lost her newborn daughter, in Hampshire, where Craven lives with two maiden aunts while her husband is abroad on business. Martin's beau, Insp. Benjamin Ross of Scotland Yard, worries about the situation, and his fears prove well founded when the local rat-catcher, Jed Brennan, is stabbed to death soon after Martin's arrival in Hampshire. Craven's conviction that her baby hasn't died raises concerns about her sanity, and disturbing reports of her early years make Martin suspect she had a role in Brennan's murder. While the lead characters may be less than memorable, fans of Anne Perry's Thomas Pitt series will find much to like. (Aug.)
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In this follow-up to The Companion, Lizzie Martin needs some space from her begrudging aunt-in-law, with whom she lives, and Scotland Yard detective Ben Ross, who is going to propose marriage a tad too soon. Lizzie willingly accepts the position of companion to a young wife who has lost her baby but will not acknowledge the child's death. Lizzie, in her intelligent and calm manner, begins to assess the situation at Shore House in Hampshire, but then the itinerant rat catcher is murdered in the garden, and Ben is sent down from London to lead the investigation. This is a perfect read for those who crave Victorian mysteries in the tradition of Anne Perry's Thomas Pitt novels. For collections where historicals circulate.
—Jo Ann Vicarel
Adult/High School
In good Victorian melodramatic fashion, the characters here are thoroughly unambiguous in moral terms. Told in turns by almost-30-year-old Elizabeth Martin of The Companion (St. Martin's, 2007) and Scotland Yard plainclothesman Benjamin Ross, with whom she is "walking out," the story involves a 17-year-old who refuses to believe her newborn baby is dead, the formidable aunt who runs the seaside manse where she is living, an itinerant rat-catcher who is murdered in their garden, a psychiatrist, and sundry household servants and villagers. Miss Martin is on hand to be companion to the young mother and sends for Sergeant Ross in response to the murder, both because she would like his comforting presence and to spare the household the unseemliness of having to reveal any of their secrets to policemen who may be less discreet. Manners rule the household more forcefully than civility, and Granger has fun creating characters who are simply foils for others' barbs. Teens with a yen for Victorian historical fiction will find this their cup of tea.-Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia
Victorian respectability comes under siege. Charles Roche, purveyor of silks and teas, hires plucky Lizzie Martin (The Companion, 2007) to attend his niece Lucy Craven, who's grieving the death of her baby and residing at Shore House, the Hampshire home of her maiden aunties Christina, a battleaxe, and Phoebe, more of a mouse. Lizzie heads off over the objections of her beau, Inspector Ben Ross, Scotland Yard. On the journey she meets alienist Dr. Marius Lefebre, who confides that he too is destined for Shore House, where poor Lucy refuses to believe her child is dead. On her arrival, Lizzie glimpses Lucy's mercurial nature, more tried than ever by the absence of her scoundrel of a husband, banished to China on tea business, and the tenderness neighboring landowner Andrew Beresford shows her. When Lucy is found screeching and bloodstained at the side of an itinerant rat-catcher who's been murdered with an ornamental dagger from Shore House, Charles Roche beseeches the Yard for tact and rectitude. They respond by sending out Ben Ross. There'll be eavesdropping, dress-burning and a murderous attempt to uphold the family honor before a trip to a Whitechapel workhouse determines not only why the rat-catcher had to die but what became of Lucy's baby. Despite some halfhearted red herrings that litter the plot, Lizzie copes nicely with barking dogs, snapping aunts and gentlemen who shade the truth. Agent: Carole Blake/Blake Friedmann
Engaging…. Fans of Anne Perry’s Thomas Pitt series will find much to like.”—Publishers Weekly on A Mortal Curiosity
“This is a perfect read for those who crave Victorian mysteries in the tradition of Anne Perry's Thomas Pitt novels.” — Library Journal on A Mortal Curiosity
“A dandy mystery and a vivid evocation of another time and place, A Mortal Curiosity is another triumph for Granger and her appealing heroine.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch on A Mortal Curiosity
“Thoroughly absorbing [and] smoothly written . . . Granger shows how well she has mastered her craft. . . . This engrossing novel is sure to delight.” —Publishers Weekly on Shades of Murder
“Historical mystery fans will appreciate the great attention Granger pays to period detail as she evokes a suitably gritty nineteenth-century London.” —Booklist on The Companion
“Accomplished veteran Granger . . . knows her history and relates it with charm in this peek at Victorian morals and foibles.” —Kirkus Reviews on The Companion
“The village mystery observes more stringent procedures than a military task force . . .The style must be witty, the setting picturesque, and the characters amusingly idiosyncratic . . . Ann Granger knows the drill so well she could write a manual.” —The New York Times on Flowers for His Funeral
