A Case of Doubtful Death: A Frances Doughty Mystery 3 (The Frances Doughty Mysteries)

Frances Doughty is faced with many cases in this latest episode in the series. She finds her fame is spreading throughout Bayswater without her needing to advertise and she has as plenty of work to keep her busy. She is even the, loosely disguised, heroine of a series of penny dreadfuls which are for sale in the area.Her most important case is to try and find the whereabouts of Harry Palmer who disappeared after the unexpected death of one of his employers. His sister has stopped eating because she is so worried about him and Frances agrees to try and track him down - living or dead. But she finds the two doctors who own the Life House are not willing to assist her. The Life House caters for those wealthy clients who are worried about being buried alive. For a few days their bodies are kept in the Life House to see if they are in fact dead before they are buried in the normal way.This is quite a gruesome story but it is compelling reading. I loved the portrait of Victorian life and the characters are very well drawn. I enjoyed the way the author carefully weaves together the many strands of this fascinating story to make a satisfying whole. Fakes and charlatans as well as villains are tracked down and exposed and the police are involved where appropriate.If you want a well written historical crime series where the research is impeccable but does not swamp the story this is an excellent series to try. They can be read in any order but it helps to read then in the order in which they were published starting with The Poisonous Seed: A Frances Doughty Mystery

Frances is on a new case - that of a living mortuary assistant's disappearance. I knew about the Victorian habit of bells and tubes so that no one was buried alive but I had never heard of living mortuaries where they held on to the dead bodies for a few days to make sure they were really dead - what a great idea given the state of the medical profession in those days. I felt this book was a little long but the historical detail was fascinating. Frances is a great character - a strong woman chafing against the confines of Victorian London and so credible as she is not strident in any way, just determined to work around these confines to do her job. The plot is not taxing and it does not require massive brainpower to keep up but the solution is ingenuous and worth waiting for. I enjoyed this book and will be reading the next one.

I would read these books purely for the heroine. I'm not sure why because there isn't an overtly obvious character trait which I'm interested in, she's just savvy and rounded. I thought she was particularly well written in this one.There's a dark humour to the plot of this book. These books are just graphic enough - they're realistic enough not to feel like a distant Victorian crime solved over scones and tea and they sometimes elicit an 'ew!'. They're not gratuitously gory and violent either.

Good writer and I like hhe character developments through the series. There are always a lot of characters to keep up with but it is well written and very enjoyable. Historically researched.

I did enjoy this but felt there were too many factors being dealt with in the story line. There is good development of character and you are left wondering what will happen next. Wasn't paying attention to my kindle so was surprised when the book ended. So many times another aspect had been added to the investigation that I felt it would never end. Would recommend but suggest reading the other two first.