Murder by Lamplight

Murder by Lamplight (2024) Patrice McDonough (Dr. Julia Lewis #1)

Set in London in 1866.

Julia Lewis had to travel overseas to manage it, but she is now her grandfather’s partner in his medical practice.

Women who had foreign degrees or had commenced their studies by 1858 had to be admitted to the medical roll, the last thing anyone wanted or expected.”

“There can’t be many of you.”

“No. But a year after the law passed, the registry recorded its first female physician, Doctor Elizabeth Blackwell.”

Because her grandfather had an attack several weeks before, when Scotland Yard calls for a medical examiner, Julia shows up to the murder scene–much to the surprise of the police–specifically, the inspector in charge of the case.

In the past, the Met had shunned clubbable “old boys” from the right schools—men, in fact, like him. Tennant represented a new breed of policeman. Recruited from the professional classes and the army, the “new men” of the Yard were resented by the older generation of working-class coppers.

But these are ugly murders, and seem to show a man who has killed before and will kill again–and is taunting the police with their inability to catch him.

Tennant returned from Crimea a changed man–both physically and emotionally.

His visible wounds were serious enough, but not life-threatening. His left leg was broken in two places. A deep, slashing wound had sliced into his thigh, and he had torn tendons and ligaments around his knee. The damage meant he’d never walk comfortably again.

…

A few months after he’d returned home from the Crimean War on medical leave, the news broke. John Sadleir, the director of the Tipperary Bank, had been arrested for embezzlement. A million pounds was missing, and thousands of his clients faced bankruptcy in the massive fraud. Having handled the bank’s legal affairs, William Tennant was dragged into the scandal. In the end, the investigation found him innocent of wrongdoing but guilty of being a gullible fool.

It was an interesting mystery, especially as the murderer toyed with the police. However, I felt like the story could have been tightened up, as there were parts that dragged (I put the story down several times to read something else until it finally took off and I wanted to read it to the end.)

Characters: Dr. Julia Lewis, Dr. Andrew Lewis, Lady Caroline Aldridge, Doctor Maximilian Franklin, Aunt Ellen Franklin, Inspector Richard Wellesley Tennant, Sir Richard Mayne, Constable Paddy O’Malley, Chief Inspector Clark, Detective Sergeant Jonathan Graves, Sir Harry Jackson, Johnny Osborne, Kate Connolly, Mrs. Ogilvie, Quartermaster Sergeant “Q” Bingham, Jackie Archer, Nurse Emily, Nurse Clemmie, Fred, Bishop Kincaid, Reverend Mr. Tobias Atwater, Sir Maxwell Ball, Mister Jenkins, Stanley Hughes, John Bingham, Jackie Archer, Thomas Haskell, William Rivers, Joseph Bazalgette, Bertie Parker, Roland Jakeways, Willie Lomax, Sam Wasgate, George Leybourne, Barney Dunlap, Patience Milhous, Mr. Withers, Mister Ames, Miss Lillie La Rue, Benny Watkins, Mister and Mrs. Watkins, Helen, Hannah, Joe Archer, Ida Joe Archer, Ellen Archer, Jillie Fratelli, Jacko Fratelli, Constable Hawkins

Publisher: Kensington Books

Rating: 7.5/10

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