Although I read a lot of historical mysteries, I wasn't so sure I would like one in the British Georgian period. Boy, was I wrong. Robert Fairfax, whose family went from prominence to disaster, placing him for a while in Debtor's prison, is now the tutor to the son of a wealthy father. Their trip to London for the "Season" quickly goes very wrong.
How Fairfax works to investigate a murder in a sea of corruption really intrigued me. Hannah March, whose real name is Tim Wilson, leads you down so many roads where experienced mystery readers are likely to say, "Oh, this is what is going to happen," only to be proven wrong.
This is the first book in a five-book series.
Readers who enjoyed Bruce Alexander's outstanding Sir John Fielding series will rejoice in going back to the same era and reading this new series featuring Robert Fairfax, the half-English half-French tutor who, in his first position finds himself obliged to defend his 19 yr. old pupil from a charge of murder. The innocent student languishes in wretched Newgate prison awaiting trial and execution while Fairfax desperately seeks to clear him by discovering the real perpetrator and proof of guilt before time runs out.
Hannah March captures the character of the period and presents a well-rendered gallery of rogues, villains and some vixens to rouse, then hold, her readers' interest.