Irina Shapiro - The Highgate Cemetery Murder

His heart pounding, the man scribbles the words in his notebook as fast as he can: “Woman dead in Highgate. Man in caped coat. Milky way and red streaks. I’m being followed.”
Hours later, the man’s cold body lies in the city mortuary, alongside the woman he couldn’t save. And his sister, unconventional nurse Gemma Tate, tracks down troubled police inspector Sebastian Bell to unravel the truth.
Sebastian has enough pressure to solve the murder of an aristocratic heiress without Gemma meddling in his case. But the cryptic sentences she brings him from her brother’s notebook could be a crucial lead. If only they knew what “milky way” meant. But as the trail of clues takes them away from the gilded drawing rooms of the nobility and into the dangerous slums of London, how far will their partnership be tested on the quest for justice, and will they both emerge unscathed?

Comment: Following the recent trend in books I seem to be interested in along with my buddy read friend, this is the first book in one more historical series with romantic elements. The only expectation I had was one of competence, which I hope is present in these types of stories.

While Victor Tate is at the cemetery visiting his wife's grave, he suddenly is witness to a macabre situation, for he spots the body of a young woman being placed on top of a grave in what seems to be a ritualistic manner. He quickly leaves to give the alert but is sadly killed in an accident with a carriage. However, this doesn't convince his twin sister Gemma, and she starts making inquires. At the same time, police detective Sebastian Bell is given the case of the dead woman and the more he investigates, the more complicated things get, especially once they discover who the woman was. By chance, Bell is able to find Gemma and they start connecting some other dots, making it obvious the death of her brother might have something to do with the cemetery case.. but what truly happened?

This story starts in what I would say seemed to be a very unassuming way and the writing style felt very average with some short sentences between longer ones making me think this wouldn't be very challenging. Since it's my first book by the author (although I've seen her back list is extensive) I had no way to compare but I did start to have an idea of what this story might be like.

Still, as things progressed, I started to become more and more engaged with the development and I will have to say I was quite taken with the police investigation. In fact, it was my favorite part of the story because it reminded me of the whodunits I usually like to read (well, more than books about killers for the sake of killing) and how much intriguing it was to see inspector Bell connecting the dots and going from one clue to the next while interviewing people. Of course, many hints are given in those scenes which we only realize at the end. Perhaps it's not the most complex murder plot ever, but it did win me over.

Since this is an historical novel, many situations take longer to be explained but I think the author did a good enough job in portrayed the little historical details that justify the slowness of some things and how the police can go from A to B without stringer evidence. Probably lawyers now would say everything was  "circumstantial" but it was fun to read. Fun in the sense that is was thrilling and clever how things were placed together, but the theme isn't fun at all.

As a matter of fact, plot aside, when I think about the setting and the characters, everything has this rather bleak vibe. Living in London in the 1800s wasn't easy if one wasn't rich or had connections. This atmosphere of hardness and injustice towards some groups (women in specific) was really depressing. The main characters are quite flawed too, which made the overall notion of the story a little more negative than I usually like in these books. I am aware historical novels cannot be as romantic as often as we are led to see in some romances, but the harsh reality does bring the mood down sometimes.

Inspector Bell has a vice and did something really terrible in his past, so much that it can be difficult to see him as the hero. Nevertheless, I did... still thinking about this, though.... and Gemma Tate is a bit too aloof and serious and I struggled to feel empathy with her, despite her status and her loss of a twin. I see romance everywhere so I assume these two might become a couple... if they wouldn't, I would not mind it but I still hope they will be partners. The author conveyed information about them in an ingenious way, clue by clue so that we can slowly start having an idea of their personalities. This isn't the focus, though, so there were times where I've felt they weren't as fleshed as the author could do. Must be a work in progress!

I think this was a very successful story for me. Despite the issues or the elements I liked less, I still had a good reading experience and there were times I was annoyed I had to stop reading. I am confident I will keep on reading this series, and the second installment without a doubt. When, that is the question...

Grade: 8/10