Winter of Despair

May 1, 2019
Famous author and amateur sleuth Charles Dickens has struck up an unlikely friendship with budding writer Wilkie Collins, whose ambition is to become the next Dickens. But before that can happen, the pair are drawn into a tragic murder case in which the victim, Isabella, was a former resident of Urania Cottage, a home for young women down on their luck and of which Dickens is a patron. The rebellious Isabella left the cottage with her friend Sesina, and the pair found jobs as maids in a London boarding house. The night she died, Isabella told Sesina she was going to meet a man who would give her the life she had always dreamed of having. Of all the cases in which Dickens has been involved, this is one of the most byzantine. Just when he and Collins think they know who Isabella's killer is, they find they've been lured into pursuing false leads. A surprising conclusion, coupled with vivid characters, authentic period details, and a constantly zigzagging plot, makes this a good choice for fans of historical murder mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

February 15, 2020
In Harrison's engaging historical-mystery series, Victorian authors Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens are paired as a detective duo who occasionally assist police with baffling cases. Their latest case (following Season of Darkness, 2019) concerns the murder of painter Edwin Milton-Hayes, who's found in his London studio, his throat slit and his latest painting slashed. Scotland Yard inspector Field, aware that Collins' younger brother, Charley, is a friend of Milton-Hayes', asks Dickens and Collins for assistance. The pair soon discover that the painting destroyed during the murder is one of several, all featuring acquaintances of the artist in scandalous situations. To his shock, Collins sees that one of the paintings shows his brother in a torrid embrace with a young married woman. That gives Charley a clear motive for killing Milton-Hayes. But those featured in the other paintings might also have been blackmail victims?and killers. Setting out to clear Charley, the novel-writing sleuths find something stranger (and more shocking) than fiction. Another strong entry in a series tailor-made for the Masterpiece crowd.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)