A Death Of A Dead Man by Caroline Dunford
Mar. 17th, 2024 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
When Fitzroy saved his valet, Griffin, from the hangman’s noose after the death of his wife, the facts behind those events were known only to the two of them. Now, years later, the body of a dead woman has been discovered, mutilated in exactly the same way as Griffin’s wife, and troubling secrets from the past cast a deadly shadow over those involved.
As the war intensifies, Fitzroy is sent on an overseas mission, Griffin is arrested, and a recovering Euphemia Martins is left to get to the bottom of the situation. With her brother-in-law Hans, and Fitzroy’s dog, Jack, in tow, she journeys to the University of Edinburgh’s medical school, where Griffin studied many years ago, to uncover the shocking truth behind his wife’s murder …
It is several months since A DEATH ON STAGE.
Euphemia Martins has largely recovered from the injuries sustained during her last mission with Eric Fitzroy but World War I continues and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the conflict will not be resolved soon. Fitzroy’s boss, Morley, blames Fitzroy for what happened to Euphemia and as a result she is not permitted to return to field missions - not even those away from the front line. Although Fitzroy is trying to persuade Morley of Euphemia’s value, he has to return to the front lines for a mission of his own. In the meantime though, he needs her help with a problem on the domestic front.
Fitzroy explains that his valet, Griffin, is a former GP and who was convicted of murdering the man who brutally murdered and mutilated his wife. Thanks to Fitzroy’s intervention, Griffin was saved from the noose and in return is effectively Fitroy’s indentured servant on pain of a return to the hangman. The problem is that two days earlier a woman was found dead at a train station, mutilated in exactly the same way as Griffin’s wife. Although no details were ever released of the murder of Griffin’s wife, Fitzroy is fearful that the police may make the connection and take Griffin back to prison. With Euphemia’s assistance, he destroys the records of Griffin’s arrest and then goes off to France on his mission, leaving Euphemia with his bull terrier Jack and a strict instruction not to investigate the latest murder.
The problem is that almost as soon as Fitzroy has gone, the SIS’s Commander Rory McLeod (a former acquaintance and one time old flame of Euphemia’s) makes the connection between the latest victim and Griffin’s wife and, having discovered the destruction of the old file, arrests Griffin on suspicion of having destroyed them himself and wants him consigned to an asylum for the insane.
With Morely unwilling to get involved to clear Griffin’s name, Euphemia has no choice but to investigate, Euphemia teams up with her caddish brother-in-law Hans to try and uncover who is responsible for the latest murder and the connection with Griffin’s wife. But doing so means digging into Griffin’s past and in particular his days as a medical student at Edinburgh University, a city with a macabre history and deep links to the supernatural and which does not give up its secrets without demanding a high price in return …
The 17th book in Caroline Dunford’s EUPHEMIA MARTINS MYSTERY SERIES marries crime and World War I espionage to uneasy effect, in part because it focuses more on character, relationship and overall series development than the central mystery. That’s a shame because the crime had a lot of potential but Euphemia does little actual investigating so developments happen in sudden bursts (specifically the revelations to the end) and so do not convince.
I’m going to stress that I think a large part of the reason why this book didn’t work for me is because I have not kept up to date with the series. I had read and enjoyed A DEATH IN THE FAMILY back in 2015, which was very much in the historical crime genre and at which point Euphemia was in domestic service and there was potential for a romance with Bertram but their difference in social status was a barrier. Since then the series has evidently moved on a lot. Euphemia and Bertram are married and have their own estate, although Bertram’s since developed health issues and Euphemia has at some point had a miscarriage. Bertram’s sister Richenda has also had health issues but is now married to Hans (who is half German and therefore at risk of internment but is also a bit of a cad prone to having affairs). More importantly, Dunford has also brought in an espionage element with new (to me) character Fitzroy (who reads as a cross between Peter Wimsey and Richard Hannay and who I thought was a lot of fun). I think the integration of the spy thriller element is very clever because it gives Dunford more scope with where the series can go and what Euphemia can do while also giving her more of a chance to examine attitudes to gender and class and the upheaval caused by the War.
The problem with not having kept up with the intervening books is that clearly there were some significant developments in A DEATH ON STAGE and there is a sense of Dunford consolidating what happened there and setting up things for the next book in the series. So there is a strong idea of an emotional attachment between Euphemia and Fitzroy that goes beyond being spy buddies (no matter what Euphemia says), there are revelations about Fitzroy’s relationship with Griffin, developments in Euphemia’s relationship with her brother in law, Hans and the return of more new (to me) characters, such as Madam Arcana (a medium and spy asset of Fitzroy who I very much enjoyed) and the introduction of more spies who work for or with Fitzroy.
I will stress that none of my issues here are Dunford’s fault. It’s because the series is now so well developed that you do need to have read the preceding books in order to get the most out of this. And I will also stress that I am interested in going back and reading those preceding books so that I can understand what has happened and why. That’s because I think Dunford has a good feel for the period and the societal changes that are going on, including the underlying stresses.
This is particularly evident in the references to spiritualism and the increased interest in it (a conversation between Euphemia and Madam Arcana is particularly interesting here). It also comes through in Euphemia’s relationship with Hans who, as a half German, is at risk of internment and should not be leaving the country estate his wife Richenda owns. I thought the way Dunford handles that is subtle and clever, as is his frank discussion with Euphemia about her views on his affairs. There is a sub-plot involving him wooing a young woman called Esmeralda, who is heading to Scotland to live with an aunt, but who Hans would quite like to install as a mistress. Unfortunately, it’s all resolved somewhat briskly off-page, which is a shame because it had a lot of potential but ends up reading like a bit of a distraction.
I had a similar issue with the main mystery, which very much plays second fiddle to the wider series development. I was actually really interested in that mystery - the idea of Griffin killing the man who murdered his wife makes him very interesting (not least because he surrendered immediately after he committed his murder, which he did in as painless a way as possible). The problem is that Euphemia doesn’t really do a lot of investigating. Instead things happen in dribs and drabs and she doesn’t follow up leads, e.g. she gets part of the story from Griffin before they get interrupted and then never seeks to follow up with him directly (even though she could have seen him in custody). As a result, some of the later revelations in the final quarter read as quite contrived and also as a bit of an info dump because it had not been previously seeded. In addition the antagonist is too obviously signalled on arrival and I would have actually liked to have had Euphemia figure out how the murders were done and why rather than have the antagonist literally explain it all to her.
Taking all this into account, I can’t say that I enjoyed the book as much as I hoped to, but I do think it’s a solid read and it certainly made me want to go back and check out the earlier books in the series.
The Verdict:
The 17th book in Caroline Dunford’s EUPHEMIA MARTINS MYSTERY SERIES marries crime and World War I espionage to uneasy effect, in part because it focuses more on character, relationship and overall series development than the central mystery. That’s a shame because the crime had a lot of potential but Euphemia does little actual investigating so developments happen in sudden bursts (specifically the revelations to the end) and so do not convince.
Review copy from author.
When Fitzroy saved his valet, Griffin, from the hangman’s noose after the death of his wife, the facts behind those events were known only to the two of them. Now, years later, the body of a dead woman has been discovered, mutilated in exactly the same way as Griffin’s wife, and troubling secrets from the past cast a deadly shadow over those involved.
As the war intensifies, Fitzroy is sent on an overseas mission, Griffin is arrested, and a recovering Euphemia Martins is left to get to the bottom of the situation. With her brother-in-law Hans, and Fitzroy’s dog, Jack, in tow, she journeys to the University of Edinburgh’s medical school, where Griffin studied many years ago, to uncover the shocking truth behind his wife’s murder …
It is several months since A DEATH ON STAGE.
Euphemia Martins has largely recovered from the injuries sustained during her last mission with Eric Fitzroy but World War I continues and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the conflict will not be resolved soon. Fitzroy’s boss, Morley, blames Fitzroy for what happened to Euphemia and as a result she is not permitted to return to field missions - not even those away from the front line. Although Fitzroy is trying to persuade Morley of Euphemia’s value, he has to return to the front lines for a mission of his own. In the meantime though, he needs her help with a problem on the domestic front.
Fitzroy explains that his valet, Griffin, is a former GP and who was convicted of murdering the man who brutally murdered and mutilated his wife. Thanks to Fitzroy’s intervention, Griffin was saved from the noose and in return is effectively Fitroy’s indentured servant on pain of a return to the hangman. The problem is that two days earlier a woman was found dead at a train station, mutilated in exactly the same way as Griffin’s wife. Although no details were ever released of the murder of Griffin’s wife, Fitzroy is fearful that the police may make the connection and take Griffin back to prison. With Euphemia’s assistance, he destroys the records of Griffin’s arrest and then goes off to France on his mission, leaving Euphemia with his bull terrier Jack and a strict instruction not to investigate the latest murder.
The problem is that almost as soon as Fitzroy has gone, the SIS’s Commander Rory McLeod (a former acquaintance and one time old flame of Euphemia’s) makes the connection between the latest victim and Griffin’s wife and, having discovered the destruction of the old file, arrests Griffin on suspicion of having destroyed them himself and wants him consigned to an asylum for the insane.
With Morely unwilling to get involved to clear Griffin’s name, Euphemia has no choice but to investigate, Euphemia teams up with her caddish brother-in-law Hans to try and uncover who is responsible for the latest murder and the connection with Griffin’s wife. But doing so means digging into Griffin’s past and in particular his days as a medical student at Edinburgh University, a city with a macabre history and deep links to the supernatural and which does not give up its secrets without demanding a high price in return …
The 17th book in Caroline Dunford’s EUPHEMIA MARTINS MYSTERY SERIES marries crime and World War I espionage to uneasy effect, in part because it focuses more on character, relationship and overall series development than the central mystery. That’s a shame because the crime had a lot of potential but Euphemia does little actual investigating so developments happen in sudden bursts (specifically the revelations to the end) and so do not convince.
I’m going to stress that I think a large part of the reason why this book didn’t work for me is because I have not kept up to date with the series. I had read and enjoyed A DEATH IN THE FAMILY back in 2015, which was very much in the historical crime genre and at which point Euphemia was in domestic service and there was potential for a romance with Bertram but their difference in social status was a barrier. Since then the series has evidently moved on a lot. Euphemia and Bertram are married and have their own estate, although Bertram’s since developed health issues and Euphemia has at some point had a miscarriage. Bertram’s sister Richenda has also had health issues but is now married to Hans (who is half German and therefore at risk of internment but is also a bit of a cad prone to having affairs). More importantly, Dunford has also brought in an espionage element with new (to me) character Fitzroy (who reads as a cross between Peter Wimsey and Richard Hannay and who I thought was a lot of fun). I think the integration of the spy thriller element is very clever because it gives Dunford more scope with where the series can go and what Euphemia can do while also giving her more of a chance to examine attitudes to gender and class and the upheaval caused by the War.
The problem with not having kept up with the intervening books is that clearly there were some significant developments in A DEATH ON STAGE and there is a sense of Dunford consolidating what happened there and setting up things for the next book in the series. So there is a strong idea of an emotional attachment between Euphemia and Fitzroy that goes beyond being spy buddies (no matter what Euphemia says), there are revelations about Fitzroy’s relationship with Griffin, developments in Euphemia’s relationship with her brother in law, Hans and the return of more new (to me) characters, such as Madam Arcana (a medium and spy asset of Fitzroy who I very much enjoyed) and the introduction of more spies who work for or with Fitzroy.
I will stress that none of my issues here are Dunford’s fault. It’s because the series is now so well developed that you do need to have read the preceding books in order to get the most out of this. And I will also stress that I am interested in going back and reading those preceding books so that I can understand what has happened and why. That’s because I think Dunford has a good feel for the period and the societal changes that are going on, including the underlying stresses.
This is particularly evident in the references to spiritualism and the increased interest in it (a conversation between Euphemia and Madam Arcana is particularly interesting here). It also comes through in Euphemia’s relationship with Hans who, as a half German, is at risk of internment and should not be leaving the country estate his wife Richenda owns. I thought the way Dunford handles that is subtle and clever, as is his frank discussion with Euphemia about her views on his affairs. There is a sub-plot involving him wooing a young woman called Esmeralda, who is heading to Scotland to live with an aunt, but who Hans would quite like to install as a mistress. Unfortunately, it’s all resolved somewhat briskly off-page, which is a shame because it had a lot of potential but ends up reading like a bit of a distraction.
I had a similar issue with the main mystery, which very much plays second fiddle to the wider series development. I was actually really interested in that mystery - the idea of Griffin killing the man who murdered his wife makes him very interesting (not least because he surrendered immediately after he committed his murder, which he did in as painless a way as possible). The problem is that Euphemia doesn’t really do a lot of investigating. Instead things happen in dribs and drabs and she doesn’t follow up leads, e.g. she gets part of the story from Griffin before they get interrupted and then never seeks to follow up with him directly (even though she could have seen him in custody). As a result, some of the later revelations in the final quarter read as quite contrived and also as a bit of an info dump because it had not been previously seeded. In addition the antagonist is too obviously signalled on arrival and I would have actually liked to have had Euphemia figure out how the murders were done and why rather than have the antagonist literally explain it all to her.
Taking all this into account, I can’t say that I enjoyed the book as much as I hoped to, but I do think it’s a solid read and it certainly made me want to go back and check out the earlier books in the series.
The Verdict:
The 17th book in Caroline Dunford’s EUPHEMIA MARTINS MYSTERY SERIES marries crime and World War I espionage to uneasy effect, in part because it focuses more on character, relationship and overall series development than the central mystery. That’s a shame because the crime had a lot of potential but Euphemia does little actual investigating so developments happen in sudden bursts (specifically the revelations to the end) and so do not convince.
Review copy from author.
