In Review: Three Detective Novels

The Face of a Stranger, by Anne Perry, Ballantine Publishing, paperback.
The year is 1856, the place London, England. When he awakens from a deep coma in a filthy hospital, he can remember nothing ... not the accident and not a single thing about who he is or his past. He is informed by a cold and distant superior officer that his name is William Monk and he is a police detective. Trying to piece together his past and his sense of self, Monk is plunged into a murder investigation involving the youngest son of a prominent family, a veteran of the recently concluded Crimean War who was savagely beaten to death in his apartment in London's fashionable Mecklenberg Square. As he begins to re-discover bits of his past and his personality, Monk also discovers that the victim was not all he appeared to be and collides not only with his superior who actively dislikes him, but a headstrong nurse returned from the Crimea.

This is the first book by Anne Perry I've read and I've subsequently discovered that she writes mysteries set in the mid-Victorian era, a time when glorious wealth and wretched poverty existed side by side. I found the historic aspects of the book quite fascinating, especially the parts about the Crimean War. The characters are well-drawn and intriguing, particularly that of William Monk whose re-discover of himself is well handled. The mystery aspect of the book suffers, however. It's a variation on the locked-room theme and the character of the victim is as black as we might have expected it to be. The duel of wit and will between Monk and the nurse, Hester Latterly, is also well-worn ground and as this is the first of a series of novels featuring the pair, you can see where this will all lead. I'm not certain if I care enough about them to follow their further adventures, especially if the mystery is going to be rather lacklustre. I'll give this one a C+.

The Italian Secretary, by Caleb Carr, Carroll & Graf, 2005, first edition.
There's a problem with this book, but I'll get to that in a moment. The Italian Secretary was commissioned by the Conan Doyle estate for a volume of new Sherlock Holmes stories by contemporary mystery writers. Carr got so involved with his story that it grew from a short story into a novella.

A gothic tale set in Edinburgh, Scotland at the Royal Palace of Holyrood. Watson, Holmes and his borther Mycroft unravel a what at first appears to be a plot against the life of Queen Victoria. Two architects involved in the rennovations of Holyrood are found murdered in a manner reminiscent of the murder of David Rizzio, the Italian Secretary to Mary Queen of Scots. Could these murders be part of a larger conspiracy against the Queen by foreign agents?

After a very intriguing start, the novel spins around and around until the solution is revealed to be ... something very commonplace indeed. This is not The Hound of the Baskvilles nor is it The Sing of Four. The plot can't hold together for the length of a novella and it would have made a passable, but ultimately forgettable short story.

I give this one a C-.

Tamburlaine Must Die, by Louise Welch, Cannongate, 2005, first edition.
The life of Christopher Marlowe is shrouded in mystery. We know that he wrote three plays and some verse and that he died in a dive in Deptford under mysterious circumstances. Marlowe was suspected in his own time of belonging to the shadowy Elizabethan underworld of spies and of being an atheist, a free-thinker and a probable homosexual, all crimes against the state.

Louise Welch's fast moving fictional tale is set in the last days of Marlowe's life. Dragged from the protection of his patron before the Privy Council, Marlowe finds himself accused of atheistic tracts signed in the name of Tamburlaine, the epynomous character of his breathtaking play. Given but short time to find the true author of these tracts and clear his name, Marlowe sets off in a frantic dash through the underworld of the Elizabethan London. He may find the person calling himself Tamburlaine, but will Marlowe escape his fate?

A taut, exhilarating novella of perfect length and scope, adeptly mixing historic people and settings with a tight mystery, Marlowe seems at once familiar and alien to us. One ends up hoping Marlowe can somehow save himself, though one knows the ultimate sad truth.

This is a solid A.