Death Comes to Dartmoor

June 24, 2019
Set in Victorian England, Conroy’s muddled sequel to 2018’s The Butterfly Conspiracy finds zoologists Merula Merriweather and Lord Raven Royston on their way to a remote village in Dartmoor to see a private zoological collection. On arrival, the pair discover their host, Charles Oaks, behaving strangely. The reason becomes clear when they’re awakened the next morning by a mob of locals crying for Oaks’s head. Tillie, a servant who worked for Oaks, has been found dead on the beach with strange markings on her neck. The villagers are convinced that the “kracken” in Oaks’s menagerie of preserved animals comes to life and prowls for victims at night. When Raven and Merula finally piece together a motive, they set an unlikely trap to catch Tillie’s wholly human murderer. Unfortunately, Conroy conveys no sense of Victorian-era mores and uses a very American voice for her English characters. Lovers of historical mysteries who insist on characters who fit the era and story locale would do better to look elsewhere. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary.

July 1, 2019
Plucky Victorian zoologist Miss Merula Merriweather thinks a trip to Dartmoor with Lord Raven Royston will be the relaxation she needs but finds instead danger, murder, and--sea monsters? Merula's love for butterflies had earlier involved her and her uncle in all sorts of trouble (The Butterfly Conspiracy, 2018). So when Royston invites her to go with him to meet his friend Charles Oaks and view his collection of global animal specimens, she, along with her maid, Lamb, and Royston's valet, Bowsprit, head for Dartmoor. But there they meet strange and hostile villagers and a distraught, unwell Oaks. It seems his maid, Tillie, is missing--and a young girl has been found murdered, strangled not by human hands but by something that left puckered marks on her neck. The villagers are sure it was the work of a sea monster, a kraken. More and more complications arise, forcing Merula and Royston to again work as a team to solve the mysteries. The author keeps a light hand on the often silly plot, although she does include a few nice touches: Upon hearing about local Dartmoor legends, Raven remarks, "Something to put into a detective story, then. Strange killings, a murderous hound on the loose. I think that if someone with a talent for words put his hand to it, it could become quite a good tale." Sherlock Holmes might have approved of the heroine's love of facts, but one doubts he would consider this tale more than the slightest diversion.

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