Irina Shapiro - Murder on the Prince Regent

London, 1859. Nurse Gemma Tate boards the American packet ship the Prince Regent to aid Inspector Sebastian Bell in investigating the death of a British aristocrat. But when she sees the crime scene, Gemma realizes that her knowledge of human nature will be just as valuable as her medical training. Lord Anthony Blackstock lies murdered in his cabin, his head locked inside a nightmarish iron cage. His wife has vanished without a trace, and time is running out to find her, dead or alive…
Sebastian and Gemma have until the ship docks in London to uncover the truth behind the Blackstocks’ final evening together. But as they unearth a web of blackmail, bitter arguments and secret affairs among the ship’s guarded passengers and crew, one chilling fact becomes they are trapped aboard with a killer who is growing increasingly desperate…

Comment: This is the 6th installment in the Tate and Bell series I have been buddy reading with a friend for the past months. Thankfully, this was another story I consider to be a good one.

In this novel, Sebastian and Gemma find themselves boarding the ship The Prince Regent, since a lord was killed and the circumstances point to his wife, who is now missing. While Sebastian and Gemma talk to several passengers and crew, they start connecting the dots as to who everyone is and how their personalities fit or not, what might have happened. Everyone claims lord Blackstock wasn't a good man, but why was he found with a torture device on his person? And what meaning does it have that his wife and her lady's maid are described to act differently when he was around? Gemma and Sebastian need to discover the culprit before someone else dies...

In terms of plot I will say that this was probably the one I liked the most in the series. The setting taking place on board of a ship somehow made things a lot more intriguing and vibrant than what I had felt in regards to other plots. Even though lord Blackstock was an unpleasant character, he is dead from the start and that also helped to overcome his awful behavior.

The story develops in a logical manner. Sebastian and Gemma discreetly interview several characters and slowly uncover some misleading information, step by step, until we get to slowly connect the dots. I cannot say that the final explanation was terribly clever, because it wasn't very original, in spite of some peculiar details, but the road until we learn what really happened was intriguing and provided a lot of food for thought. In fact, if I feel some disappointment is because the reasons behind the crime are not as complex as the story line made it look for most of the time.

The characters being investigated all seem to have good reasons to not commit the crime, but as always, as little things become revealed, the more it seems everyone is hiding some secrets. When we do learn of some, as things approach the end, it seems that expectations were taken to an extreme, but I think the author did a good job here, in maintaining a good enough balance between the facts and the red herrings, so that every detail does matter, does make some sense, but not everything is pertaining to this specific situation. Of course, the fun is to see what does matter after all.

In regards to the plot, I feel this fit all the criteria for things to be engaging. I liked the case, I liked how things fit together in the big picture (with some exceptions) but everything ended up being well fit, and the result was very satisfying. I also liked it that the secondary characters were, in general, more appealing, or were described as such. An element in the books I've liked less was precisely this, how unappealing it was to read about them.

Another great element was how the relationship between Gemma and Sebastian progresses. Since the author included the romantic element in the main story line, this has been an expected detail readers wanted to see having more development. Although nothing physical happens between them except some kisses - I am supposing the author won't go there - it was still encouraging to see they are, indeed, on the same page in relation to their feelings and that this might have further development soon.

All things considered, this was really a good addition to the series. I am now hoping that the next story continues in this vein...

Grade: 8/10

Irina Shapiro - Murder on Platform Four

Inspector Sebastian Bell arrives at Paddington station through thick Victorian mist, hoping to reconcile with his estranged brother. Instead, he discovers a young woman’s body in an abandoned trunk, stabbed with a peculiar bone-handled knife. But with no clues to her identity and his new boss dismissing the case, Sebastian’s investigation seems doomed.
Nurse Gemma Tate is at work when the nameless woman is brought in for an autopsy. Realizing how desperate Sebastian is for a lead, she risks a forbidden examination and makes two tragic discoveries: the woman recently gave birth, and she wears a wedding ring with the inscription “G loves H”. Has this brutal act of violence shattered not just one life, but an entire family?
Determined to get justice, Sebastian and Gemma pursue answers to the woman’s wretched fate. But when the trail of clues leads them uncomfortably close to home, Sebastian realizes too late the danger they are in. By ignoring his superior to follow this case, has he fatally doomed the woman he loves…?

Comment: This is the fifth installment in the Tate and Bell series, which I have been reading recently with my buddy read friend. The series features detective Sebastian Bell and Nurse Gemma Tate as they investigate a case and fall in love.

In this story, Sebastian and Gemma are still debating what to do with their lives, but Gemma's period of mourning is ending and they are planning on becoming engaged after that. In the meantime, a body is found inside a trunk on platform four and Sebastian is quick on the discovery since he had planned to meet his brother at the station. As they investigate the dead woman found inside, they follow the clues to a hotel, where the woman had stayed, and the hospital, where she had planned to meet someone. Why is the woman dead and what as she doing in the city? Can they find out what happened before someone else is killed?

This being the fifth installment means there are situations that have become easy to spot in the series and a certain vibe has become predictable. Still, I must say i was surprised by how much easier it was to read this book as opposed to the last two, for instance, which felt a lot bleaker. This one still had the crime investigation, which always touches subjects that can seem sensitive, but the overall impression was one of a much more approachable story line and secondary characters.

In fact, my biggest disappointment in the previous book was how unlikable most secondary characters had been and the tone of the story suggested some very bad thoughts and emotions. I'm glad that this one was a lot lighter to me, and not at the expanse of an intriguing story, for the crime committed and the solving of it still offered a lot of food for thought. This means that this book felt like it was easier to read and to appreciate.

The crime investigated provided interesting details to analyse and to wonder about and this is one of my favorite things about these novels, how the police investigates certain things with pretty much only their wit and by asking questions. At a time where so much of our contemporary science is set on technology or artificial means of finding evidence, it always impresses me how much Sebastian and Gemma can learn by talking to people and assuming things. Of course, some coincidence makes all this sound better too...

I think the case wasn't very complex, however, and the real challenge was to see how the clues would fit. Despite this, the investigation went towards a path in which it was interesting to learn what motivated the killer to act that way. And, as always, the author added interesting historical facts about this and that to make the reading experience feel richer.

My buddy friend and I have talked about the books and for me the biggest "negative" issue has been the tone of the books and how unpleasant some characters are and how that affected my enjoyment of the book. For my friend, the issue is the lack of development of Gemma and Sebastian's romance. This is an historical, so the author is trying to keep up a realistic evolution of how such a couple would behave in public, but I can understand why this also feels like an excuse, and their romance seems too bland and relatively platonic. I, too, would not mind more evidence that they are falling in love.

This book did work better for me than others and some of the things that take place give me hope for what is to come. There is always something I'd change to suit my preferences but I think this one had a good balance of the elements used. I hope the next one can feel stronger, though.

Grade: 8/10

Irina Shapiro - Murder at the Orpheus Theatre

She looks hardly more than a child, sleeping, her lashes long and thick as they rest against her rounded cheeks. But in the flickering gaslight, she is unnaturally still…
For Inspector Sebastian Bell and nurse Gemma Tate, a night at the theater becomes a deadly spectacle when the two lead actors are found dead on the stage, murdered before a stunned audience. Drawn into a shadowy backstage world, they encounter a cast of suspects, each with desperate secrets to hide…
Sebastian is determined to get justice, and to keep Gemma safe from the dangerous killer circling the cobbled streets of Covent Garden. But she is already too deeply involved, and, in a world where everyone wears a mask, could she have trusted the wrong person…?

Comment: This is the 4th installment in the Bell and Tate series by Irina Shapiro, following a police detective and a nurse as they investigate and solve crimes in the late 19th century, which I've been buddy reading lately.

In this new adventure, detective Bell needs to look into the death of two actors, on stage. Many witnesses in the audience saw nothing strange, including Gemma and the lady she is taking care of, as well as her employer. When the investigation begins, it doesn't seem the deceased had any cause to have been murdered but apparently that is exactly what happened. As the clues slowly start piling up, Sebastian and Gemma realize the world of the theater isn't as fake as it is made to seem, and everyone is hiding quite an amount of very real secrets... but why would the killer risk such a public killing?

Now that my friend and I have read four books, I think I can safely say I have a pretty good idea on what the author's style is and how the formula might go in each new book. I have thought all the books to be enjoyable, in terms of plot, and hopeful in my expectations of what will happen romantically between Gemma and Sebastian. In fact, regarding this element, in this book they finally talk and agree that their future will be brighter if they will spend it together, which will happen as soon as Gemma is out of mourning for her brother.

However, there's always this weird sensation that something isn't working as well as I'd want, at least to make this a much more seductive series, as I have thought others to be. I do like the mix of historical elements in a crime investigation and romance, even though it seems mrs Shapiro's goals are more centered on the plot's details and not as much on the main character's personal lives. Personally, I prefer the focus to be on the protagonists but I suppose this isn't a big deal if all the parts work out.

The thing is, in this series, unlike others I have enjoyed or are still ongoing, the tone is definitely a little bleak and the hopeful, cozy, warm feelings I tend to add to my usual experience aren't always present here. Sebastian and Gemma live in a moment and time in which their social situation seems to be a little unfair and complicated to change. They can't find easy/financial solutions to some of their issues and this, correctly, affects their way of seeing life. I kind of wish they could be more carefree.

Still, this would be just one more thing, if not for something I've noticed while reading this book. For the most part, with the usual exceptions, what probably has added more issues to my enjoyment of the series as a whole is probably this: pretty much all important secondary characters seem to be unlikable or face impossible situations. In general, besides the main couple, there is only one or two characters per book we can see positively, such as Gemma's employer. The other characters all have something to make me characterize them as unpleasant. It makes for a strenuous reading.

This said, the plot in this book was interesting, of course, mainly in how the connections between the characters lead them to discover who killed the actors. I will confess that I found the method to be a little far fetched for the motivation of the killer and that when we find out the reasons, they seem way more basic than the behavior suggested. Still, the way the pieces were placed together was intriguing and the final scenes and epilogue compensated for some injustices and unfairness throughout the novel.

I will keep reading, because I do want to see the main couple be happy and because my buddy read friend is also on board, but I will also admit that if not for this, I would not be too sad if I weren't to continue.

Grade: 7/10

Irina Shapiro - Murder at the Foundling Hospital

Nurse Gemma Tate is heartbroken when she hears that one of her young charges at the Foundling Hospital has been killed. She knows that police inspector Sebastian Bell will work tirelessly to uncover the truth, but, obstructed by the curt matron, he’ll need her help navigating the cloistered world of the orphanage.
The mystery thickens when Sebastian finds a small wooden doll clutched in the murdered girl’s hand and Gemma hears whispers of a shadowy romance. But that isn’t the darkest secret hidden behind the high hospital walls. As time runs down on the investigation, Gemma won’t give up. But could the shocking discovery she makes be her last?

Comment: This is the third installment in the Tate and Bell mysteries by Irina Shapiro, a series I'm buddy reading. So far, we have been enjoying these investigations...

In this story, which follows very closely after the events of the previous one, Sebastian and Gemma have agreed that they might become more than friends in the future and they will take some time to get to know each other better. However, that has to wait because the alert comes that a child was found dead at the foundling hospital where Gemma works and she is scared it might be the little girl she has bonded with. It turns out that it wasn't but who would want to murder an innocent and likable child like that, and for what reason? Sebastian knows that it is necessary to avoid scandals if the hospital wants to retain its benefactors but the life of a child has to be as important as anyone else, right? Still,the pursuit of the truth keeps placing roadblocks on his path...

These books have a formula that has been working for me and for my buddy read friend. The main characters find themselves investigating a crime, they combine their personal abilities and take risks while at the same time, we get to see the very slow development of their inner thoughts and feelings. I think the mood of these books leans more towards the bleak than the optimist but I hope that this will keep changing the more comfortable they are with one other.

The case here involves a child who was murdered and it seems there is no logical reason because the girl was sweet and biddable and since she was an orphan there is no monetary motif. Of course, as the clues pile up, we get to realize nothing is a simple as this and the girl did have a secret, although nothing terrible. What develops from this little fact is what made the story captivating. I suppose it is appropriate to say we uncover layer after layer the more little things get known.

For me, the interesting elements in these novels have been mostly two. First, as always when it comes to crime investigation plots, the way the investigators go on following clues is always quite an exercise because in our daily lives how many of us can have time to process stuff like that? To make it even more challenging, this is an historical and the police can't use the contemporary devices/methods we would right now. Obviously, this means some things would not be legal either, and some transitions have to rely on coincidences...

The second element I like is that the protagonists, despite their flaws, are good people, are people who do the right thing even if it includes things we might not agree with but the times in which they are would have required different set of rules to follow. I do like it when main characters aren't perfect but are people we can root for and even cherish, as I feel towards Sebastian and Gemma. I think their efforts combined worked out very well for them to figure out who the killer was.

I also think the author did a good job pacing things in this novel, more so than in the previous one. Some sequence of events seemed to be presented in a smooth way and I liked it that everything had a certain logic and didn't rely only on possibilities. I was surprised by the identity of the killer and for the reason... I mean, it's not this complex plot,no, but it still felt like a nice twist to the usual choices we find in these series of mystery books.

At the end, Gemma has to face some changes in her life, something we will certainly see more of in the next book. I can't say I'm eager to see where things will go, I assume that at some point more definite options will be made, but I'll go back to the "vibe" of this series. the characters live in a society that isn't fair, unlike many other series out there, they aren't part of the wealthy elites, so their circumstances can't be that easy going but... I kind of wished they would have more happiness in their lives and not only the hint of it. Let's see what comes next...

Grade: 7/10

Irina Shapiro - Murder at Traitor's Gate

The chill of winter has descended on London. But for Sebastian Bell and Gemma Tate, there will be little cheer this season…
Gemma Tate has a new job and a new address. She is putting her past – her memories of nursing in the Crimean war – behind her. Until Jacob Harrow, a journalist with ties to Crimea, is found brutally killed, and Gemma is pulled into the investigation.
Police inspector Sebastian Bell works alone. But when all signs point towards a dark secret Harrow brought back from the war, he realizes he needs Gemma’s help to untangle the mystery. But raking up the past has devastating consequences when Gemma’s friend, another nurse from Crimea, is found murdered in her boarding house…
As dark betrayals come tumbling out, Gemma and Sebastian are on a dangerous race to uncover the truth. In her determination to solve the case, could one rash act by Gemma place her next in the killer’s sights…?

Comment: This is the second installment in the Tate and Bell mystery series by author Irina Shapiro. My buddy read friend and I have read and enjoyed the first story last year and we decided to keep up with the series, thus why we got to this one now.

Police detective Sebastian Bell is called for another case, this time related to a man found hanged, and it was definitely not a suicide. As he investigates the victim he realizes it's a reporter not liked by many, and more so he was blackmailing several people. He also learns he has a connection to a nurse who is familiar to Gemma and he asks her questions to learn more about possible motivations. Then, the nurse is also killed and it does seem everything is more complex than what they imagined. Will Gemma and Sebastian find the culprit before someone else dies too?

The vibe of this story feels quite moody and slightly more bleak than what I remember the first book being. To add contrast, I think the author has established an interesting connection between the main characters and the work they do, which provides character development and a look into their personalities, making them people we like and root for and I certainly hope things between them become more intense, romantically speaking.

The plot of this book is very similar to what happened in the previous one, and I assume this is how all the books will carry on. There is a crime, the police investigates and somehow nurse Gemma will assist in discovering something or helping with something specific. In regards to this case, there were parts I felt a little sad over the situation, since the blackmailing guy was taking advantage of others and these others were not bad people nor were they, for the most part, causing problems or harm, but they were still being exploited. This means the murdered individuals weren't "good" people and it was not difficult to think their fate was deserved.

Of course, this also means someone killed these people and that is where things become more complex. The actual killer shouldn't have done it, obviously, but I can't say the motif was wrong. In fact, the reason why the murders happened was sad and related to an unfair situation, an impossible one actually, if we bear in mind this is an historical setting. I still wish the reasons would have been different because I feel sorry for the killer while still morally condemning his actions.

I still think the author could have added more personality to all the characters... there were times I think some emotions and reactions could have been depicted better. Thinking about the main couple, perhaps not really since I assume we will see them interacting with one another and with other characters in the books that will follow, but some of the secondary characters in this book felt they could have shown more emotional range, namely the killer and two other people connected to the victims. 

Sebastian and Gemma are a good team and I think the story would gain a lot of they were to have a more solid partnership. I want to believe this will be so, especially if I think about how the book ends and the conversation they had, but I also hope the author won't "invent" unnecessary drama and chooses, instead, to give them common ground to achieve happiness and strength in one another. Let's see, my friend and I will keep up with this series for the next months.

Grade: 7/10

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