Title: Garden of Sins by Laura Joh Rowland
Victorian Mystery Series Book Six
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Historical, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 304 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Award-winning author Laura Joh Rowland is back with the sixth in her critically acclaimed Victorian Mystery series in which Sarah must search for the killer of a woman she found murdered on a train all the while waiting for the verdict of her father’s trial for heinous crimes committed two decades earlier.
London, November 1890. Crime scene photographer Sarah Bain Barrett faces a perfect storm of events. She and her husband Detective Sergeant Barrett are riding on a train that crashes. While rescuing other passengers, they find a woman who’s been strangled to death. Their search for her identity and her killer lead them to Cremorne Gardens, a seedy riverside pleasure park that’s a combination carnival, theater, freak show, and museum of oddities. It’s among the most challenging cases that Sarah, Barrett, and her friends Lord Hugh Staunton and Mick O’Reilly have ever undertaken. The suspects include a dwarf, a female acrobat, and a member of the Royal Family. Due to the royal connection, the police commissioner declares the case top-secret. Sarah and company must investigate on the quiet, keeping the suspects, the press, and the public in the dark. That’s easier said than done. The investigation is complicated by the injury Hugh sustained during their last case, Mick’s romance with a woman who has psychic powers, and Barrett’s old flame.
Meanwhile, Sarah’s father Benjamin Bain goes on trial for a rape and murder that happened more than two decades ago. The victim was a teenage girl named Ellen Casey. Is Benjamin Bain as innocent as he claims? Sarah has serious doubts. The trial is the scandal of the year, a media blitz. The outcome–and the truth about the murder on the train–are beyond Sarah’s wildest imaginings. What dangerous secrets are hidden behind the tawdry glamor of Cremorne Gardens? Is Benjamin Bain wrongly accused, or a guilty sinner who deserves to be hanged?
Review:
Garden of Sins by Laura Joh Rowland is a multi-layered historical mystery. Although the sixth installment in the fabulous Victorian Mystery series, this newest release can be read as a standalone.
Photographer Sarah Bain Barrett is on leave from the newspaper where she works while waiting for her father Benjamin’s murder trial to begin. She and her half-sister Sally Albert are at odds over his innocence. So, Sarah welcomes the distraction when she and her husband Detective Sergeant Thomas Barrett are assigned to a secret investigation by the police commissioner.
Sarah and Barrett were on a train when it derailed and they stumbled across a woman who was murdered. Sarah takes the woman’s camera and after the film is developed, they manage to find the hotel where was staying. The photos were taken in the Cremorne Gardens so that is where Sarah and Barrett start looking for answers. Cremorne’s owners are former circus members who also perform at their business.
In between their attempt to find out why the murder victim was interested in the Cremorne, Sarah also attends her father’s trial. She grows increasing tense as the prosecution lays out its damning case. With a guilty verdict a distinct possibility, Sarah’s effort to exonerate her father unexpectedly leads to new information. Will this discovery prove his innocence?
Garden of Sins is an atmospheric mystery with a fast-paced storyline. Despite her recent marriage, Sarah is still independent and incredibly stubborn. Old issues arise between her and Barrett and their marriage is suddenly under immense strain. The secret investigation also causes friction as Sarah makes rash decisions while angry. Benjamin’s fate hangs in the balance and results in even more tension between Sarah and Barrett. With breathtaking twists and clever turns, Laura Joh Rowland brings this gripping mystery to a shocking conclusion. Old and new are sure to enjoy this latest addition to the Victorian Mystery series.
