I like my murder mysteries set in the 21st century preferably in a foreign country. Two newly published mysteries fill at least one of my criteria. Anne Perry is a popular novelist whose detective, Thomas Pitt, lives in late-Victorian London. Her latest, titled “Midnight at Marble Arch,” deals with sexual brutality and the upper classes. These victimized women live with the stigma and shame of rape that is not only self imposed but also reflects the attitudes of the day. Husbands often blamed their wives for behavior that brought on these attacks. Perry continues to capture the Victorian era even while investigating such a heinous crime.
David Morrell’s newest mystery novel is entitled “Murder As a Fine Art.” Set in mid-Victorian London, in 1854, it deals with a multiple murder case. Inspector Sean Ryan, an Irishman, travels the streets of the East End to investigate the killings of a shopkeeper and his entire household. The reviewer of Morrell’s latest says it takes time to get used to his writing style since he keeps switch time frames and view points, but he writes “action scenes like nobody’s business.”
If your taste runs to murder in the 1800s, these books will probably be winners.