The Bedlam Detective

Since being released from the Pinkertons, Sebastian Becker (THE KINGDOM OF BONES) serves as special investigator for the Masters of Lunacy. Becker determines the sanity of people of property who may not be competent to manage that property. Bethlehem (called Bedlam) Hospital has Becker evaluating Sir Owain Lancaster, who has returned from a deadly trip down the Amazon raving about monsters. Through scenes with Becker's savant son, narrator Michael Page shows Becker to be a decent man with a clear grasp of the difference between insane and eccentric. Page ramps up the excitement when two children are found brutally murdered and Lancaster insists the evil has followed him. Page's subtle handling of Stephen Gallagher's character-driven plot keeps us guessing: Is Lancaster a madman or a monster? S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Starred review from August 13, 2012
Gallagher's new thriller, set in England in 1912, introduces Sebastian Becker, a resourceful, underpaid government detective charged with investigating the finances of rich eccentrics. Responding to claims that wealthy Sir Owain Lancaster lost his sanity on an ill-fated trip to the Amazon, during which his wife and child perished, Becker travels from his cramped offices in London's notorious Bethlem Hospital to the rural town of Arnmouth. There, he discovers that Lancaster may be connected to the murder of two young girls. Page's narration captures and enhances the dark and unsettling mood of the book. He employs a proper, clipped British accent for the bright, dedicated Becker, but softens his delivery when addressing the sleuth's personal problemsâhis job's meager pay and his frequent travels, his strained marriage, his concerns for his autistic son. The voices Page lends the supporting characters are equally on targetâamong them are Becker's spirited wife, a frustrated local lawman unjustly disrespected by the town, and two courageous women who were fortunate enough to escape the murderer when they were young girls. For Sir Owain, Page creates a voice that sounds older, but remains vital and confident, leaving the character's mental stateâwhich plays a key part in Becker's unraveling of the tightly knit whodunitâambiguous for a good portion of the novel. A Crown hardcover.

Starred review from December 12, 2011
Set in England in 1912, this masterful whodunit from Gallagher (Red, Red Robin) introduces Sebastian Becker, a former policeman and Pinkerton agent who now works as the special investigator to the Masters of Lunacy, looking into cases involving any “man of property” whose sanity is under question. His latest assignment takes him to the small town of Arnmouth to determine whether Sir Owain Lancaster has gone around the bend. Lancaster returned from a disastrous trip to the Amazon, which claimed the life of his wife and son, only to attribute the catastrophe to mysterious animals straight out of Doyle’s The Lost World. Lancaster believes that the creatures that plagued him in South America have followed him home, and are responsible for the deaths of two young girls, a theory supported by a local legend of a beast of the moor. Gallagher’s superior storytelling talents bode well for future adventures starring the well-rounded Becker. Agent: Howard Morhaim.