A standard amateur detective murder mystery, of the 'I must avenge the death of someone with whom I have a vague personal connection!' ilk. Sarah Tanner, a woman of dubious morals who has recently made good as the owner of a coffee shop, has all the credentials for solving a murky crime in a back alley - background, training, connections - but little substance to hold the reader. I found her a little contrived and not very convincing - a woman of 'independent means' accepted by the working class and local ne'er-do-wells, yet who could pass as an educated, 'respectable' lady when required, calling on the service of a gentleman friend to gain entry into polite society.

The plot is intriguing, but there are perhaps one too many twists and turns, which come thick and fast in the final chapters, for a satisfying conclusion - one revelation is shocking, three or four in quick succession cancel each other out. And Sarah's clues were suspiciously coincidental - overheard conversations proving to be relevant, adverts in old newspapers suddenly springing to mind (and hand), witnesses and accomplices readily divulging information - stock-in-trade for the detective genre, but still a test for the reader's suspension of disbelief!

Finally, there is a potentially destructive drinking game to be devised out of this, and other historical novels - a shot for every time Jackson uses the slang word 'ma'am' would have everyone under the table by chapter five! I'm not even sure it's historically accurate - surely 'madam' would have been more appropriate, particularly amongst the middle and upper classes? 'Ma'am' sounds like an American term, or how to address the Queen! The semi-colon is also wheeled out far too often; breaking up sentences where commas would suffice (not recommended for the 'Dangerous Woman' drinking game!)

An average novel - evocative descriptions of Victorian London show up a weak protagonist who could have done with more of a backstory. ( )

The first copy of this book I got had a misprint. Several pages near the end were duplicated and there were some missing, so I enquired with one of the other branches in the service as to whether or not their copy had the missing pages. I was gutted that I couldn't finish, a little over 50 pages to the end. Today I finished it, and it was worth the wait.

Sarah Tanner is a mystery. She appears out of nowhere in a working class area and sets up shop with a coffee house and what would now be called a cafe. Her hours reflect the businesses in the area. She's content with her new life and doesn't regret leaving her old one behind. This all changes when an old friend is murdered in front of her. The murderer is a policeman and her past precludes her being believed by the authorities. She feels a need to investigate and this drags her back into the murky underworld she's been trying to escape from.

It's an interesting read. The twists near the end took me by surprise as they happen suddenly. Leaving me a little breathless, but it also left me with an urge to read more by this author. The story was gripping and interesting and I really liked the characters created. They were nicely flawed and nothing was necessarily obvious. ( )