The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal

The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal (2013) K.J. Charles

Set in England between 1894 and 1914.

The Caldwell Ghost
Butterflies
Remember, Remember
Silver
Cakes and Ale
Devils on Horseback
An Eye for an Eye
The Writing on the Wall
Turn of the Century
The End

Simon Feximal helps the dead to rest. He doesn’t exorcise them, send them on, but instead allows them to finish telling their stories.

He was covered in writing. It was scrawled in black and red ink, from wrist to shoulder of both muscular arms, across his broad, powerful shoulders and chest. None of it was in a language I recognised, or could read, but it was unmistakably writing… and it was still being written.

I gaped. The lines, some spidery, some looping, still others jagged, etched themselves over his skin, a constant silent chatter of messages.

“What—” My voice failed.

“The stories write themselves,” he said, very matter-of-fact. “I serve as their page.”

Robert is known for writing the stories of the various cases that Simon has worked.

These stories are how Simon and Robert met and became lovers and partners.

It is surprising how fast a man can fall when there is nobody to extend a hand to him.

I think Cakes and Ale was my favorite story of the lot.

“Well, that’s new,” the maid said, picking it up. “If you’re going to start making a mess, we’ll have words!” That remark was addressed in loud tones to the empty air.

“You are not intimidated by the ghost?” I asked.

“Lord bless you, sir, if I was to run screaming at a few open doors, we should be in a pickle.”

This book does pull in other fictional characters, such as the Diogenes Club and Mycroft Holmes (although not by name) which is quite entertaining.

It’s a lovely collection of stories, some of which have more boinking than others, but all of which are interesting.

Publisher: KJC Books
Rating: 8/10

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