Monday, April 25, 2016

The Mangle Street Murders

The Mangle Street Murders: A Penny Dreadful Review

            Sidney Grice is a detective even more insufferable and idiosyncratic than Sherlock Holmes. March Middleton is his ward, a strong-minded and compassionate young lady. Sarah Ashby is a woman seemingly murdered by her husband William.
            The Mangle Street Murders, by M. R. C. Kasasian, is an interesting Victorian mystery (I do love Victorian mysteries). The guilty are not exactly punished and the good do not exactly escape unscathed. There is a fascinating and labyrinthine solution to the murder, but all the ends are not as tidily tied of as in a Sherlock Holmes story. It is much messier here, and I find that quite satisfying and very modern.
            I can hardly give further review without spoiling the plot, which is the entire joy of a mystery story. I will say that the reader should be on the lookout for the story-within-a-story of allusions to March Middleton’s past. It is almost as intriguing a mystery as the murder.
            I give The Mangle Street Murders four gears out of five. If you like anti-social genius detectives, you simply cannot miss this book.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

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