A Slash of Emerald (A Dr. Julia Lewis Mystery, #2)

by Patrice McDonough

A trailblazing female medical examiner in 1867 London and a skeptical Scotland Yard detective investigate a string of art world murders in this dark, atmospheric, historically rich mystery for readers of Andrea Penrose and Deanna Raynourn.

London, 1867: Among the genteel young ladies of London society, painting is a perfectly acceptable pastime—but a woman who dares to pursue art as a profession is another prospect, indeed. Dr. Julia Lewis, familiar with the disrespect afforded women in untraditional careers, is hardly surprised when Scotland Yard shows little interest in complaints made by her friend, Mary Allingham, about a break-in at her art studio. Mary is just one of many “lady painters” being targeted by vandals.

Painters’ sitters are vanishing, too—women viewed by some as dispensable outcasts. Inspector Richard Tennant, however, takes the attacks seriously, suspecting they’re linked to the poison-pen letters received by additional members of the Allingham family. For Julia, the issue is complicated by Tennant’s previous relationship with Mary’s sister-in-law, Louisa, and by her own surprising reaction to that entanglement.

But when someone close to them commits suicide and a young woman turns up dead, the case can no longer be so easily ignored by ‘respectable’ society. Layer after layer, Julia and Tennant scrape away the facts of the case like paint from a canvas. What emerges is a somber picture of vice, depravity, and deception stretching from London’s East End to the Far East—with a killer at its center, determined to get away with one last, grisly murder . . .

• ISBN10: 1496746392
• ISBN13: 9781496746399
• Publish Date: 25 February 2025
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781496746399

Reviews

[annieb123]

A Slash of Emerald is the second historical mystery featuring Dr. Julia Lewis, by Patrice McDonough. Released 25th Feb 2025 by Kensington, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

A well crafted thoroughly researched historical novel featuring an intelligent and driven young female physician in London in 1866. She's fully licensed (having used a legal loophole to join the register of practicing physicians after finishing her studies in the USA), and has joined her grandfather's practice. She has a very keen eye for detail, and employs critical reasoning and observation to also help the police with inquiries. 

It's not really a cozy cozy, there are some gruesome descriptions, but overall, the violence occurs chiefly off-page, so it's not truly horrifying. The author also doesn't shy away from the historically accurate but distressing sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, crushing poverty, and other unsavory details. Speaking of detail, the book is written around a framework of actual historical events and people, and interwoven with a lot of interesting real political and social movements of the time period. Ms. McDonough has definitely done her homework.

The characterizations are impressive, and they're three dimensional and believable, with their own motivations and agendas. There's some slow-burn development/potential romance between Julia and Richard, but it's definitely sloooow (2 books in, and there are only glimmers of romance, nothing concrete). This volume works well enough as a standalone mystery, but there are some interpersonal developments between the returning characters which will be spoiled if read out of order.

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 9 hours and 15 minutes and is capably read by series narrator Henrietta Meire. She has a light RP English accent, but does a credible job with the varied London accents both male and female. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Worth a look for readers of historical mystery and very well written. Readers who enjoy Deanna Raybourn, Anna Lee Huber, Tasha Alexander, et. al., will likely enjoy this book.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.