Dear Diary,
Yes, I promised myself and my long-suffering Netgalley commitments list that I will be a good reader and reviewer in 2022. Yes, I remember that.
But, ‘life does happens when you are busy making other plans’… However, even though I was busy with ‘life’ I never stopped reading.
I read Murder at the National Gallery on time. I am only late with my review.
Murder at the National Gallery is book #7 in the Museum Detective series about archeologist Abigail Fenton and ex-policeman turned detective Daniel Wilson set in Victorian London. Author Jim Eldridge created a very dynamic, colourful, mutually complimenting duo that defies social canons, proprieties (they live together but are not-married) and conventions.
I have met this pair early on in the series in Just Out Book Review – Murder at the Natural History Museum by Jim Eldridge and enjoyed their adventure, repartee and dynamics.
Their 7th Adventure did not disappoint. Set in Victorian Londong, stepping on the hills of ‘Jack the Ripper’ case, mixing real historical figures with ficitional character, Murder at the National Gallery is a present fo crime lovers like myself.
This book has it all: a murder, two, three… a pair of detectives who are as brave as they are smart and rational, famous British landmarks and famous figures (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for instance).
Abigail and Daniel are called to investigate when a body of a prostitute is found next to a painting at the National Gallery. a) a prositute b) body mutilated c) body is found at the painting by an artist who was one of the suspects in Jack the Ripper case.. A Copycat? A return of Jack the Ripper?
Well, Museum Detectives will have to figure it out navigating London establishment, police politics, personal danger and volatile temperaments of artists, their wives and lovers.
All in all, a very enjoyable read. Even though it is #7 book in the series, the suspence, interest, mystery, characters do not disappoint.
Svetlana Tishchenko 