***
Two of a Kind.

I don’t know if it has anything to do with this being the one-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the end of the American Civil War, but I have been running into more than a few books about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Not surprisingly, given its title, The Blue and the Grey, by M.J. Trow is another.

It’s April 1865, and former Union Cavalry Captain Matthew Grand is in Ford’s Theatre when Abraham Lincoln is assassinated. In fact, he almost captures John Wilkes Booth, but is ambushed by an Englishman, and Booth escapes. After being rather brusquely questioned National Detective Police Grand is deemed innocent. Since he was a witness, and saw the English conspirator he is sent to London by its commander, Colonel Baker, to see if he can find one man in the teeming metropolis of London.

Meanwhile, in London, journalist James Batchelor, after a night of heavy drinking, finds himself accused of the murder of a prostitute after he stumbles upon her corpse in an alley. Batchelor is released after being questioned by Inspector Tanner of the London Metropolitan Police, with the expectation that he will write about the murder, and keep Inspector Tanner informed. Since he usually covers garden shows and the like Batchelor considers it a chance to make a name for himself. When more ladies of the evening are found dead he finds himself investigating a killer known as the Haymarket Strangler.

After a slew of coincidences and a brigade of characters move the story along Batchelor finds himself covering Grand for the Papers, and the two men find common cause, and that the two mysteries they are investigating may be linked. From there the two men work together to unsnare two cases, and bring to justice a murderer and an accessory to the murder of the President.

Mr. Trow clearly knows and enjoys the time and setting, and both come to life. The characters of Grand and Batchelor are refreshing realistic, and enjoyably down-to-earth. There are a plethora of supporting characters, and they are all multi-dimensional as well. If anything, the amount of characters and the space they occupy in this novel may have been a bit of a hindrance at times. I found myself enjoying each tangential character and their individual stories, but at the expense of narrative drive and tension. I felt at times that Mr. Trow was taking two good stories, almost two good books, and forcing them into one fairly enjoyable but rather unwieldy whole. The amount of coincidences and plot devices that had to happen to bring the two main characters and their stories together stretched credulity at times, but it never broke. Mr. Trow’s assured prose, and his unabashed enjoyment managed to keep the plot one point, and if the pace was slowed now and again by the side trips, each detour was enjoyable. I suppose it might not be too much of a spoiler, since this is advertised as the first book of a series, that in the end Grand ends up staying in London, and he and Batchelor hang up their shingle. I’ll probably drop in for the next case.

Review by: Mark Palm
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