Ratings3
Average rating3.7
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?
Fans of Andrea Penrose, Deanna Raybourn and Carole Lawrence will be hooked on this intricate, compelling mystery set in Victorian London.
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1 primary bookTate and Bell Mystery is a 1-book series first released in 2024 with contributions by Irina Shapiro.
Reviews with the most likes.
Netgalley read.
A woman is murdered and displayed in a very gory fashion at a cemetery. The man that first discovered the dead woman gets crushed by an omnibus and his sister doesn't think it was an accident and along with Inspector Bell from Scotland Yard they set out to solve the case.
It's pretty dark and maybe a little graphic for some, you can start reading it as some of it is right at the start with the discovery of the body, and it gets darker still.
A few too many anachronisms that took me out of it at times. But still enjoyable, even if I could use more Gemma. Hopefully she has more to do in the second book of the series.
I got the audio book and at first I wonder if I would make it through as the narration was a little, over dramatic but I got used to it and/or it got better.
CW, rape, violence against women, violence against pregnant people, drug use.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)
This was a good paced read that was easy to breeze through. I liked the dynamic between the two main characters as they worked together to solve the case. Can't wait to see where the series goes.
As a word of warning, the crime descriptions are a bit graphic. There probably should be warnings for that somewhere as that's not for all readers.