Review by Booklist Review
Laetitia Rodd is an early-Victorian widow of impeccable reputation (her late husband was an archdeacon) who supplements her dwindling income by accepting commissions for solving crimes. In this, the third in the series, the respectable Mrs. Rodd must rise above her natural qualms about keeping low company by investigating a case involving that near-final rung of Victorian society--actors. A retired actor neighbor seeks Mrs. Rodd's help in gaining a settlement for the wife of a famous actor and theater manager who is determined to abandon his wife for a much younger actress. As Mrs. Rodd learns about the complicated household of an egomaniacal husband and father, his about-to-be discarded wife, and three actress daughters, a body is found on the site of the husband's old theater, which had burned down several years before. Mrs. Rodd's unlikely partnership with a police inspector makes her investigation a little too easy, but the real appeal here comes with the details Saunders supplies about gaslit Victorian theaters and a family that plays Romeo and Juliet both on and offstage.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in 1853, Saunders's entertaining third Laetitia Rodd mystery (after 2019's The Case of the Wandering Scholar) finds Laetitia, genteel London private investigator, an archdeacon's widow, and the very epitome of respectability, considering taking on the case of Sarah Transome. Sarah's husband, celebrated actor-manager Thomas Transome, seems set on expelling his wife, who's the mother of his three grown daughters, from their home. Laetitia decides to accept, as she puts it, "one of the saddest cases I have ever encountered, though it was not sad to begin with. In true theatrical style, the programme commenced with a farce and ended with a tragedy." While visiting the theater district, Laetitia encounters Insp. Thomas Blackbeard of the Metropolitan Police, who has come to investigate a body found beneath the long abandoned, burnt-out shell of the King's Theatre. While Laetitia looks into this decade-old death, another man is murdered, leading her to consider that the two events might be connected. Well-defined characters, an intricate plot, and a beguiling narrator make this a winner. Fans of Victorian historicals will be pleased. Agent: Caradoc King, A.P. Watt (U.K.). (Dec.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Saunders's third Laetitia Rodd cozy mystery (following Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar) finds the respectable widow immersed in the scandalous world of 1853 London theater. Mrs. Rodd's neighbor, Mr. Tully (a retired actor), is the one to introduce her to the theatrical set, when he asks her to help some former colleagues. His old friend Thomas Transome has fallen in love with the 18-year-old actress who is currently playing Juliet opposite his Romeo; Mrs. Rodd is hired to help Transome's soon-to-be ex-wife, Sarah Transome, get a fair divorce settlement. Mrs. Rodd is soon narrating a sad, sometimes sordid story of lies and betrayal, including potential arson (Transome's King's Theatre went up in flames 10 years earlier, perhaps deliberately) and murder (a corpse has recently been discovered in the burned-out theater). Mrs. Rodd teams up with police inspector Thomas Blackbeard to solve the crime and deal with a false confession, accusations from the Transomes' three actress daughters, and the stabbing death of Thomas Transome. VERDICT Mrs. Rodd can be a little stuffy, but her barrister brother adds humor. Readers looking for a slow-paced cozy historical may appreciate Saunders's series.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Hired to settle a family problem, a proper Victorian widow is dragged into more sordid matters when her investigation into a divorce turns into a murder case. Based on her reputation for looking into things discreetly, Mrs. Laetitia Rodd is approached by a neighbor seeking services for a friend. Mrs. Sarah Transome has long turned a blind eye to her husband Thomas' indiscretions, but now he's left her in order to set up house with the much younger Constance Noonan. Mrs. Rodd is familiar with Thomas from his longtime acting work and his displacement in the tragic fire that burned down the King's Theater some 10 years ago. Now, after leasing the Duke of Cumberland's Theater, Thomas has been widely admired as Romeo to Constance's Juliet. Though Thomas is a thorough cad, Mrs. Rodd can't help but be impressed by his charisma when she meets him to discuss allegations that he's neglected his wife. But Thomas quickly dismisses what Mrs. Rodd has heard, even if he freely admits that it echoes what he's said. He sometimes erupts in anger, he explains, content to move on with his life. Mrs. Transome, whose three adult daughters all appear to take Thomas' side, is not so inclined. Mrs. Rodd, who arranges to work with Thomas' lawyer toward an amicable resolution, is amused to learn that Thomas has hired top barrister Frederick Tyson, whom Mrs. Rodd knows more familiarly as her brother. Everything seems wrapped up until a body is discovered in the remains of the King's Theater fire. Now the focus isn't on a stingy husband shirking on support but a potential murder. The fastidious manners, which fit the 19th-century setting, are leavened with enough humor to suit modern tastes. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
