The Infidel Stain

This takes place three years after Avery & Blake met and went adventuring in India. They're both back in England and, much to Avery's disappointment, they're back on a case. Disappointment because Avery would have wished that Blake had called for him but an an external forces was the one who effectuated the reunion. Generally I liked this, particularly because [a:Alex Wyndham 7238104 Alex Wyndham https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] delivers another fantastic audio, however I had some disappointment. REASONSA): There is a murder(s)/mystery but a giant bulk of the story reads more like literary fiction, dedicated to apprise the reader about early Victorian England and all it's complicated, Dickensian, serpentine history. All very interesting, truly, but unimportant to purported mystery.B): Blake remains an omniscient & inscrutable cypher. We know nothing about him. His thoughts are only occasionally made explicit, the why's we can only intuit. How he feels about Avery we can only extrapolate. Despite the passage of time and his experiences in India & Afghanistan Avery remains a bit of a naif, aimless & lost, and he moons over Blake like a mesmerized calf. I do appreciate that though a good man Avery is very much a man of his times and station. Maybe I read too much romance but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping something develops between Avery & Blake in the next book. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that that's a strong incentive to go on, that and I already own Bk.3, which seems to be the last, but I'm prepared to disappointed.