Cast Iron (Julia McAllister Victorian Mysteries, #2)

by Marilyn Todd

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Cast Iron is the second Julia McAllister period mystery by Marilyn Todd. Released 20th Oct 2019 by Sapere, it's 234 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a very well written period murder mystery with a strong, intelligent, and sympathetic female protagonist. This is the second book in the series, but I had no trouble following the plot or keeping the characters straight. It works perfectly well as a standalone; the author is adept at giving enough backstory to bring readers up to speed (without feeling like one is being force fed). The plotting is spare and tightly controlled. The technical aspects of the writing are well done (dialogue, characterization, etc) and unobtrusive. It's an engrossing read. It's not a cozy, it's serious and in some places gritty. The first crime scene Julia photographs was so well described it gave me chills.

The ebook version includes an interactive table of contents Possibly worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and the first book in the series) are included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. It's always fun to find a new to me author and series to read. I would recommend this one to fans of period mysteries. I'm looking forward to more from this author.

Five stars. I really enjoyed this book.

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