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Death at Gallows's Green - Robin Paige This author is a new discovery of mine, sort of. In reality Robin Paige is the writing team of Susan Wittig Albert and her husband Bill Albert. Susan Wittig Albert is well known as the author of the China Bayles mysteries. This newer series is a Victorian mysteries series featuring Kathryn Ardleigh, an outspoken American woman (not a proper English miss at all!) and Sir Charles Sheridan, amateur photographer and detective. Death at Gallow's Green is the second in the series. A local constable has been murdered. Kathryn's maid and her suitor stumble upon the body of Sergeant Arthur Oliver in the back field of Mr. MacGregor. The late Sergeant Oliver's friend and colleague, Police Constable Edward Larken is determined to discover who is responsible. Later, it seems as if the late Sergeant may have been a poacher, and this not only taints his reputation, but threatens the pension his widow would receive, her only source of income. Constable Larken is determined to see that Oliver's name is cleared of any wrong doing for his friend's sake, and his wife's welfare. Sir Charles offers to help him. It may have been twenty years since he had spent his summers in East Berghold, but he remembered his friendship Artie and Ned fondly. He knows his friends could not have been a poacher, but what reason would anyone have to kill Arthur? Unless Arthur had been investigating something and discovered too much... Meanwhile, Kate befriends a very odd though likable lady of the name of Beatrix Potter, who has the very odd habit of talking to her menagerie of woodland creatures. Together Beatrix and Kate search for clues to explain the death of Arthur Oliver. Ms. Potter is having her very first adventure and is enjoying her freedom very much, until the young daughter of Sergeant Oliver disappears. Can they find her before it is too late? The budding romance is between Kathryn and Charles was more worrisome to me than the mystery. I like drawn out romances with lots of verbal parrying along the lines of Amelia Peabody and her handsome Radcliffe. Kate and Charles' romance lacked something. I enjoyed this mystery, though there are better Victorian mysteries out there. This was really a light cozy-type mystery, with its familiar cast of characters and rustic atmosphere. Meeting an actual historical character is an interesting and fun addition to the story, though I wonder how the authors will be able to keep this up throughout the rest of the series without it becoming cliched and artificial. It isn't as serious or hard-edged a story as Anne Perry likes to write or as literary as the Jane Austen series by Stephanie Barron, but the mystery was quite unique, and I think, appropriate for that time period. It is a welcome addition to my reading list of Victorian mystery writers. I would recommend this series to people who enjoy a light Victorian mystery, but if you're looking for something really well written, I would recommend Anne Perry or Peter Lovesy.
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