Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
The Highgate Cemetery Murder is a well written historical mystery series opener by Irina Shapiro. Released 29th Feb 2024, it's 383 pages and is available in paperback, 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. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The second book in the series is out currently, and is also available on KU.
This is a well written Victorian mystery series featuring an intelligent and driven female protagonist who's a nurse. She's practical, strong, honest, and determined to get to the bottom of her brother's murder after being fobbed off by the police. The prose flows very well, and although it's often melancholy, the author does a very good job of being historically accurate (classism, racism, drug abuse, misogyny, murder, prejudice, and corruption) without being completely unrelentingly depressing.
The clues are fair-play, and the denouement and resolution are shocking, but fair. It should be noted that this is emphatically *not* a cozy read. It is dark and quite often violent.
Four stars, with the emphatic understanding that it's not an easy light entertaining read. Fans of Andrea Penrose and C.S. Harris will likely find this series worthwhile.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reviewed by annieb123 on
Reading updates
- 30 June, 2024: Started reading
- 30 June, 2024: Finished reading
- 30 June, 2024: Reviewed