This book has all the familiar characters and situations of a Victorian mystery, but it feels completely fresh. Partly this is because the details of the train crash, and its aftermath, and the family relationships, are so compelling. I very much liked the character of Paul, his dedication to his profession of medicine and his reticence in other areas. As a writer of Victorian mysteries (with an emphasis on technology) myself, I admire greatly the craft with which the story played out within the context of an accurate historical setting. I'm very glad to have read it. ( )

After another season in London, Lady Elizabeth Fraser is one her way home when she is ijuried in a train wreck. After meeting railway surgeion Paul Wilcox and newspaperman Tom Flynn she becomes involved in a conspiracy of many years in the making.
A quite slow paced but interesting mystery with some well-developed characters. ( )

Every age has it’s blind spots, and every person.

I remember once reading a contemporary liberal preacher (I don’t remember which one) report that one of his friends told an audience something like, “By tomorrow morning (many) children will have starved to death in Africa for no fucking good reason.” They were *shocked, shocked* so he immediately followed it up with: “And most of you are more concerned with the fact that I cursed just now.”

There were troubles that nobody considered it in their interest to ease. Middle-class women crossed in love once twice three times had to be sedated so they wouldn’t commit suicide, and so the doctors just prescribed them (and others) laudanum. Guys who were double-crossed in love left to fight for the Empire in Africa—hey England needs to fill the ranks somehow, right. It wasn’t a problem for a lot of people. And I don’t want anything from the politicians, really, and I don’t expect anything, either, except maybe a bad example.

But too often the church didn’t offer people much either, and that’s disappointing. The church people often led the charge in the wrong direction, really. Consider the story that the servant girl tells in Chapter 17, which the aunt refuses to tell in Chapter 16. The mother lied to her son about his whole life for years, then fesses up on her deathbed, so she can die free and clear and waltz off into the arms of Christ the King. (I won’t speculate, right.) And the way that Elizabeth’s mother was treated was *perfectly horrid*. And can you imagine someone like Spurgeon—and I like Spurgeon, at least compared to a politician, then or now—saying, Daughters that God loves are not loved by their husbands because their mothers marry them away because of the money, and when unhappiness ensues, mum’s the word and people lie to the children....

They didn’t talk like that, right.

And people imagine that they’re Christians because they can learn to disparage young lovers, or atheists.

But it is a beautiful book, sometimes because of the people, actually, and sometimes because it takes an honest, sober look at the simple, painful hurt of life.

It’s also interesting how easily they could lie, among other things. Although the lying itself is quite extensive, and the cases could be interesting to count, a little project.

Transportation is a theme, although I haven’t prepared a monograph like one of the ones she read. I know a little about the customs. Women, forced to indulge in these fantasies of reputation, had to look at things in a way that in a man would justly be called cowardice. At least people tried to force them, shoved them around a little bit, psychically speaking. “It was painful to be here,” she thought, “but I wouldn’t have been anywhere else for the world.”

And although the rules were tighter back then—don’t talk to the press or you’ll end up in the news, don’t express interest in someone not of your class—it doesn’t really require much historical sense to work it out, just a little imagination.

It is serious writing though; it’s not about things that didn’t happen, but things that did. So it’s interesting, all in all: many Victorians weren’t religious; the aristocrats usually weren’t, though they lied about that. They relied upon themselves, although they made a pretense of managing God’s earth for him; the radicals often couldn’t be bothered about the whole thing. Things have gotten worse since, at least in some ways, but considering how bad things were—put on your gloves, take off your gloves— and how dishonest people were.... class differences are not subtle here, but people of all classes would lie again & again & again—it’s amazing that things aren’t worse today.

After-note: You’ll notice I’m a Six and not an Eight; Eights are like trolls, and Sixes are like, I don’t know, toy dogs or something. But even I can see now—although I don’t care to reread it word for word, but I remember it more or less—was a little precious, you know. I mean, I saw the social sin, right. But…. You know, it’s like: (child gasp) Oh, no! People will look! People will see! The British Empire will collapse! The British Empire will be no more! Oh, our sins! Oh, our sins! Oh! If only, we had been good!

And it’s like…. Seriously? (Heather from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) Seriously, you are seriously worried about Earl Chuzzlewitz, the unelected unproductive and ungrateful beneficiary of Queen Victoria’s Empire? Even the American Empire isn’t /precious/ enough for you? /turns/ I’m not going to lie, guys; this bitch right here /refers to me/ is crazy. /drinks/ And I’m a psychology student. (title character) “Yeah Heather. Like how long have you been in community college for?” Seven years—I’ve learned. A lot! (finishes glass)

You too can be precious. Stay strong, America! 🧌😸 🇺🇸

I loved everything about this book. The setting, the writing, the characters, and the mystery. ( )

I enjoy mystery stories very much. I do not read much historical fiction, but the premise sounded intriguing. There is a lot to learn about the railway business in the 1800's. The story concerns a train accident, that may or may not be sabotage. As Elizabeth Fraser becomes more entwined in the story, she must figure out if there was an act of sabotage, and if more are to come. Railway agents are being murdered, and it feels as though someone is trying to bring down the railways.

I thought the mystery was a solid one. There is also an element of romance, but it was secondary to the mystery. The pacing of the story was a little slower that I would like, but it did seem to fit with the setting of the story in the 1800's.

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley ( )