Well-researched and fun to read, M.R.C. Kasasian's The Mangle Street Murders is a deft blend of accuracy and frivolity, sure to please lovers of historical mysteries. March Middleton's father has died, so she moves to London to live with the godfather she's never met. It turns out, though, that her new guardian is none other than Sidney Grice, the most famous private detective in England. Rude, opinionated, but undeniably brilliant, Grice is caught up in the investigation of the murder of Mrs. Sarah Ashby within hours of Miss Middleton's arrival.
Grice refuses the case, sure that Sarah's husband, William, is guilty, but March, feeling pity for William and for Sarah's mother, agrees to pay Grice's fees if he'll take the case. To her dismay, he manages to prove William's guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt, ensuring his path to the hangman's noose. Can March outwit the world's smartest detective and prove him was wrong?
The Mangle Street Murders is a fast-paced, witty book, written in an almost slapstick style. While March must overcome both the prejudices of those who see her as "mere Miss Middleton" and her irritation with her overweening guardian, Grice has to readjust his ideas about the intelligence and capability of women as he begins to accept his goddaughter as a possible assistant. There are tongue-in-cheek references to Conan Doyle, but although the parallels are unmistakable, Grice and Middleton are refreshingly different from Holmes and Watson. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm