The Bellingham Bloodbath

July 14, 2014
Aristocratic sleuth Colin Pendragon and his partner, Ethan Pruitt, take on two very different cases in Harris’s entertaining second late-Victorian mystery (after The Arnifour Affair). When Capt. Trevor Bellingham of the Queen’s Life Guard and his wife are murdered in their London flat, it’s not entirely clear whether the Guard authorities want Colin to solve the crime or merely to assuage the public’s fear—and, perhaps, cover something up. Meanwhile, Lady Nesbitt-Normand knocks on Colin’s door, utterly distraught by the sudden disappearance of her prize-winning bitch, Lady Priscilla Elizabeth Windsor Hanover Nesbitt-Normand. Despite the urgency of the other case, Colin agrees to try to locate her missing dog. The two story lines, neither of which is compelling on its own, nicely complement each other. Colin and Ethan are partners in both senses of the term—as detectives and and as lovers—and their tender, at times awkward, romance adds another layer to the novel. Agent: Kathy Green, Kathy Green Agency.

September 1, 2014

Colin Pendragon, the son of Sir Atherton Rentcliff Pendragon, is a Victorian private investigator. Along with his partner, Ethan Pruitt, they have been called to the office of the Queen's Life Guard (the soldiers who perform the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace). Tasked with solving the murder of Capt. Trevor Bellingham and his wife, Gwendolyn, within three days, Colin and Ethan are very busy but find their investigation thwarted by authorities reluctant to cooperate. Then, Colin gets distracted by the kidnapping of a prized pug. VERDICT Fans of Victorian mysteries may find their enjoyment of Harris's second gay Sherlock Holmes pastiche (after The Arnifour Affair) hindered by several historical inaccuracies and anachronistic language. Still, readers looking for gay-themed historical crime fiction may like this.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.