annieb123's Review of Mysterious Tales of Old St. Paul

by Larry Millett

Tales of murder and revenge: the early exploits of detective Shadwell Rafferty

Shadwell Rafferty’s last case may have led to his murder, but naturally—and fortunately, for followers of the indefatigable St. Paul detective—there’s more to the story. Mysterious Tales of Old St. Paul gathers three novellas from Larry Millett, casting back to Rafferty’s beginnings to recount a trio of intriguing cases that honed his skills before he joined forces with Sherlock Holmes.

In “Death in the News,” St. Paul citizens wake one morning to find that the sign on downtown’s tallest building that reads PIONEER PRESS has been altered—at considerable effort—to LIARS. An elaborate prank, yes, but it foreshadows a far worse crime, and Rafferty is on the case. In “The Birdman of Summit Avenue,” cats are turning up dead in the yards of St. Paul’s prominent citizens, and suspicion swiftly falls on the wealthy avian enthusiast Ambrose Harriman, but the case turns darker still when a neighborhood boy is found murdered in Harriman’s yard. In “The Gold King,” an enigmatic stranger arrives in town, calling himself the Gold King and announcing his plans to unearth hidden treasure, which eventually leads to a shocking conclusion.

Steeped in the mystery and history of nineteenth-century St. Paul, these interlocking detective stories feature the characters—and the local character—that have made the Shadwell Rafferty series irresistible. Spellbinding as ever, these stories also afford the curious pleasure of watching Rafferty find his footing on his way to becoming the consummate detective whose exploits have delighted readers again and again.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Mysterious Tales of Old St. Paul is a collection of three novella length historical mysteries by Larry Millett featuring fictional sleuth Shadwell Rafferty. Released 1st Oct 2024 by The University of Minnesota Press, it's 240 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.

These are well written stories, tied together loosely, and featuring an unvarnished plain-spoken saloon owner and sometimes detective who has a tie-in with the author's other series (Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota). The mysteries are nicely constructed and satisfyingly resolved. It's set in the late 19th century in Minnesota, and there's a palpable sense of setting, with an adolescent American midwest vibe and rough-and-ready characters.

The main character has an occasionally annoying tendency toward internal monologues, riffing on the methodology of Sherlock Holmes; and it's a fun homage, but becomes tiresome when it's overused.

The author is clearly very very well versed with local history and there is a wonderful verisimilitude throughout the book, with the mysteries skillfully interwoven around a scaffold of actual history. It's done so skillfully it's not clear where real history shades over into fiction.

Three and a half stars. Well written. It will likely appeal to readers who enjoy Anne Perry's William Monk series and similar.

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

Mysterious Tales of Old St. Paul

by Larry Millett

Reviewed by annieb123 on Oct 28, 2024

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