Gods of Gold

October 20, 2014
A gas workers’ strike cripples Leeds in Nickson’s strong first in a new Victorian series. As the police prepare to cope with the controversial arrival of nonunion replacement workers, Insp. Tom Harper learns that eight-year-old Martha Parkinson is missing. When the girl’s father, Col, claims that she’s visiting an aunt, Harper soon discovers that no such woman exists. Meanwhile, Col is found hanging from a ceiling beam in his cottage, an apparent suicide. The entire police force is needed to help contain the chaos created by the strike, limiting Harper’s time on the Parkinson case. But when a replacement worker is murdered by a pair of sinister strangers also seen with Col, Harper realizes that the mysteries may be connected. Nickson, whose Richard Nottingham series (Fair and Tender Ladies, etc.) depicts Leeds in the early 18th century, evokes the 1890 city with accuracy and color. Solidly characterized protagonists with interesting vulnerabilities are a plus. Agent: Tina Betts, Andrew Mann (U.K.).

Starred review from November 5, 2012
Set in 1733 Leeds, Nickson's outstanding fourth mystery featuring constable Richard Nottingham (after 2012's The Constant Lovers) shows that linking the crime under investigation to a wider plot of broader significance isn't necessary to carry the reader along. In the ruins of a house gutted by fire, Nottingham makes a gruesome findâthe blistered husk of a woman's corpse, with her fetus ripped out and placed on her sliced-open belly. Identifying the victim proves a challenge, and Nottingham and his men have a hard time getting traction in an inquiry of no interest to anyone but themselves. Besides delivering an intriguing puzzle, Nickson does a fine job depicting Leeds's underclass ("A few thousand souls, so many of them pushed together in the cold, crowded spaces of the poor: faceless, anonymous folk, all working for the few who tasted luxury each day without thought"). Agent: Tina Betts, Andrew Mann Ltd.

November 15, 2014
A detective inspector's wedding takes second, or third, place to several complicated cases. DI Tom Harper is soon to marry well-to-do widow Annabelle Atkinson, but 1890 Leeds has already been thrown into turmoil by a gas workers' strike when Harper and his detective sergeant, hot-tempered ex-soldier Billy Reed, learn of a missing child. Col Parkinson's wife is in jail, and he claims his little daughter, Martha, is with his sister. Since he has no sister, where is Martha? Soon Col is found hanged, leaving behind two suspects for the kidnapping: a small dark man and a big bruiser with cold, dead eyes. Although his boss, Superintendent Kendall, understands Harper's frustration, all leaves have been cancelled because the powers that be are bringing in replacement workers, known as blacklegs. Harper, who's sympathetic to the workers, is told to put the missing child aside for now and help keep order. When a blackleg is stabbed to death on the steps of Town Hall, the chief constable indicates that he'd be happy if Harper could prove that the killer was one of the strikers. But his investigation suggests that only council workers and the suspects in Martha's disappearance were nearby. No one admits knowing the men or whom they work for. When the police catch the big man, he refuses to speak, even after Reed loses his temper and beats him so badly that he has to be hospitalized, and he's poisoned before another interview can take place. Harper, who knows that a powerful man must be behind the taking of Martha and several other girls who have vanished from orphanages, continues to investigate. What he finds will shake Leeds to its foundations. Although Nickson's tales of Richard Nottingham (Fair and Tender Ladies, 2014, etc.) take place more than 100 years earlier, Harper faces the same disturbing inequalities in this police procedural with a social conscience.

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January 1, 2013

Dedicated Constable Nottingham watches over 1755 Leeds like a hawk, defying anyone to mess with his thriving city of industry. So when a suspicious house fire leaves behind the charred remains of a young, pregnant victim, he is spurred into action. Perplexed at first by the victim's anonymity, Nottingham learns that she was a disabled woman abused both by employers and kin. No way will his fledgling police department let this wrongful death slide by. Nottingham is quietly powerful and strives to ensure justice for all, not just the moneyed class. Not surprisingly, his investigation exposes more than some city leaders had planned and leaves him particularly vulnerable. VERDICT Nickson's fourth title (after The Constant Lovers) in his superb 18th century-set series lives up to expectations. Clearly written so that the titles can be read out of order, this historical police procedural ends with a cliffhanger, guaranteeing your patrons will demand number five,

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2014
DI Tom Harper of the Leeds Police Department is looking forward to his upcoming wedding. But his daydreams about the joys of married life are interrupted by the disappearance of nine-year-old Martha Parkinson, whose mother is in prison for petty thieving and whose father claims Martha is visiting his sisterexcept that Col Parkinson doesn't have a sister. When Col is found hanged a few days later, Harper fears the worst and even wonders if Col sold his daughter into child prostitution. But Martha's disappearance takes a backseat when the employees of the local gasworks go on strike, substitutes are brought in to keep the gas flowing, and every copper in Leeds is called out to keep the strike from erupting into violence. But always at the back of Harper's mind is Martha. Solidly plotted and smartly paced, with intriguing period details of 1890s England and vivid characters, this is an entertaining and thoroughly engaging procedural.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)