The Black Hills

November 1, 2018
While it may be difficult to imagine a story that successfully combines lighthearted humor with multiple gruesome murders, Trow manages to do it brilliantly in this latest installment of the Grand and Batchelor historical-mystery series. Their latest outing, set in 1873, has the pair investigating the kidnapping of Emilia Byng, wife of London tea merchant Selwyn Byng, who claims he can't pay the ransom unless he has access to Emilia's substantial trust fund, which she's not due to receive until she turns 35. The plot begins to thicken when a woman's mutilated body is dragged from the Thames, and the detectives find that Byng has omitted vital information in his description of the kidnapping. It's hard not to like Grand, a wealthy American, and Batchelor, a British ex-journalist who's had to scratch for a living, or to fail to laugh at some of their more outrageous adventures, even as they are investigating the most brutal crimes. These qualities, added to engaging style and a gripping plot, make this one a sure bet for historical-mystery fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2019
London investigators Matthew Grand and James Batchelor return in another gripping adventure, this one set on the American frontier in 1875. General George Custer is a legend for his exploits as a soldier and for leading the men based at Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory during a tense standoff with the Lakota tribe, on whose land the fort stands. But Custer has made trouble for himself by accusing the U.S. president, Ulysses S. Grant; Grant's brother; and the entire government of corruption. Custer's friends fear his outspokenness may have put his life in danger. And that's when Grand, who served with Custer during the Civil War, is summoned. After an attempt on Custer's life in Washington, D.C., Grand and his loyal partner, Batchelor, travel to Fort Lincoln to watch Custer's back. When the bodies start piling up and Custer's life seems in more danger than ever, Batchelor and Grand set out to discover the truth. Realistic depictions of 1800s army life in the West, a gripping story packed with a palpable sense of danger, and a shocker of an ending make for absorbing reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)