Portrait of peril A Victorian mystery

In the fifth entry in Rowland's Victorian Mystery series, newspaper crime-scene photographer Sarah Bain and her husband, Detective Sergeant Hugh Barrett, dig into the murder of a spirit photographer--someone who claims to photograph ghosts. Among the victim's recent photos is one that appears to show him being assaulted by an apparition, which leads naturally to the question: Was he murdered by a ghost? The story is set in the late 1800s, when spirit photography was only a few decades old and considered a legitimate pursuit in the eyes of many. Rowland really runs with the idea of a man being killed by a ghost, building a story that almost makes us wonder if spiritual shenanigans could be afoot. With this series and with her long-running Sano Ichiro series, set in seventeenth-century Japan, the author has proved herself to be a formidable figure in the historical-mystery genre, with an eye for period detail and a deft hand at characterization. Readers who have not yet checked out Sarah Bain really ought to do so.

Rowland's well-crafted fifth Victorian mystery (after 2020's The Woman in the Veil) finds London newspaper crime photographer Sarah Bain and her fiancé, Det. Sgt. Thomas Barrett, about to get married--but are they prepared to confront the concept of what it means to be "man and wife" in the full Victorian sense of the term? Family and social tensions boil over at the wedding breakfast, but more distressing is the body of a ghost hunter that's uncovered in the church's crypt just as the groom kisses the bride. Not every woman could photograph a crime scene in her bridal dress, but Sarah doesn't flinch, and she soon becomes involved in an intriguing mystery involving spiritualist frauds, debunkers, and believers. The literal meaning of her marriage vows adds a new level of complexity to Sarah's headstrong nature, which can lead her into needless danger and sometimes even damages her investigation. As always, Rowland blends acute psychological observation and meticulous historical research to explore the conflicts faced by an independent woman in Victorian society. Readers will hope Sarah has a long career. Agent: Pam Ahearn, Pam Ahearn Agency. (Jan.)

Why go on a honeymoon when there's a murderer to catch? October 1890. The wedding of London crime-scene photographer Sarah Bain and DS Thomas Barrett is interrupted by the discovery of a body in the crypt of St. Peter's Church. The victim, Charles Firth, has been stabbed in the chest. Sarah's granted a leave of absence by Sir Gerald Mariner, her boss at the Daily World, to investigate. Her team includes street-wise teenager Mick O'Reilly and her closest friend Lord Hugh Staunton, whose homosexuality has estranged him from his family. Firth specialized in photographing ghosts; when Sarah visits his widow, Leonora, she's in the process of contacting the dead. One of her friends advises her to help Sarah: "We have to rule out the possibility that the killer is human." As in Sarah's first four cases, Rowland's knack for drollery and colorful characters is on full display. Strangely, the Firths are connected to a case Sarah's been trying to solve for years: the wrongful conviction of her father, now a fugitive, for a crime committed by her estranged mother. Firth's Society for Psychical Studies is virulently opposed by the Ladies' Society for Rational Thought. When Hugh inexplicably disappears and a prominent member of one group is murdered, the probe takes on special urgency. The plot runs a bit amok, but Rowland's Victorian London is fascinating and her team of irregulars unmatched. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.