The Secrets of Wishtide

Quite enjoyable; a nice period mystery wrapped up in interesting characters. I liked the way Mrs. Rodd was able to use her station in society as a way to learn about suspects in the murder. I enjoyed reading about an intelligent, intuitive sleuth, but I also liked that she made mistakes. Saunders did a great job of making her seem real and flawed. I also enjoyed watching the interactions between the characters—the adult siblings, the troubled marriages, the frustrating sister-in-law, the lovable curmudgeon, the unflappable best friend—so charming to read. I seem to read a lot of YA books, and even the more grown-up stories I find tend to focus on protagonists in their 20s. I was surprised by how much I loved reading about a woman in show more her fifties. She's wiser than many younger heroines, she has life experiences to draw on, and she's in a position to better understand the other people she encounters. It was nice to read about a real adult, who is good at adult-ing, and who is interesting to boot. I would like to read more in this series. Such great fun! show less

I've previously started this book at least 3 times and never gotten past the first page - or even gotten to the first page before being distracted by something else so this time I was determined to get this book read.

It turns out that once I could actually sit down and read more than a handful of words, getting it read wasn't a problem at all. It was a great read! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The book starts out like it's the middle of an on-going series; it doesn't bother to lay down a bunch of background or drag the reader through Mrs. Rodd's start as a discrete detective. But never as the reader was I confused, or felt left in the dark, or plopped into the middle of things. Small moments here and there fill in quite a few blanks; others show more just aren't that necessary (or perhaps are being saved for future books?) and there's plenty of mystery to take up the pages; the author doesn't need filler.

The widowed Mrs Rodd works through her brother, a distinguished defence attorney, and is called upon to look into the background of a young window deemed thoroughly unsuitable by the rich father of the young man who wants to marry her. But unbeknownst to them all, there are far bigger problems blossoming for the family, and Mrs. Rodd finds herself in the thick of happenings rather diabolical.

According to the author, readers of David Copperfield will recognise her inspiration for this book (I've not read DC). Whatever her inspiration, the characters and setting were pitch perfect and I just enjoyed every minute I spent with Mrs. Rodd and company. Although I sussed out the plot twist very early on, I was too engrossed in the read to notice or care, and the pace remained brisk from beginning to end.

The only niggle I had is a small one: Mrs. Rodd is the widow of an archbishop, so there's every possibility that the heavily spiritual/religious bent to the narrative is just part of her character. It totally fits and it's never, ever preachy, but it's just dominant enough that it could also be the author using the book as a platform to evangelise and that possibility sours, just a tiny bit, what would have been my complete enthusiasm for the book. Thankfully, Mrs. Rodd remains smart, sensible, non-judgemental and with enough humour for the niggle to remain tiny.

The cover implies this is the first of a new series; if so, I'll eagerly be in line to purchase the next one. show less

Kate Saunders captures life in the villages around London in 1850 well, especially through the eyes of a 52-year-old widowed female whose life would be reduced to unpaid governess of her nieces and nephews had she not asserted her will and decided to do private investigation work for her barrister brother. Using largely her intuition and knowledge of people and their motivations, Laetiticia "Letty" Rodd helps solve what starts out to be a simple question and becomes an overly complex case. A few flaws: too many confusing characters, too many convenient coincidences, and the main character tends to hit the reader over the head with the important social points the author is trying to make. That being said, this is still a fairly enjoyable show more Dickensian mystery with several laugh-out-loud funny lines. Obviously the start of a new series, one would hope readers find out more about Mrs. Rodd in future adventures. show less

After her clergyman husband’s death, Laetitia Rodd now works as a private investigator at the behest of her barrister brother, Frederick. The latest case calls for Mrs. Rodd to go undercover in the household of Sir James Calderstone to dig into the background of the widow with whom his son and heir has fallen in love. The case takes some unexpected turns with tragic consequences.

I listened to the Booktrack edition because that’s the audio version that was available from my public library. I didn’t enjoy the experience. According to the marketing material, the soundtrack is supposed to enhance the experience. I found it distracting. The music was loud enough to make it difficult to focus on the narrator, and the mood often didn’t show more match what was happening in the book. Based on this experience, I’m unlikely to listen to another Booktrack audiobook. show less

The Secrets of Wishtide - Kate Saunders
Audio performance by Anna Bentinck
4 stars

This is the first book of a new historical mystery series set in Victorian London. The protagonist, Mrs. Letitia Rodd, is a middle-aged clergyman’s widow of ‘limited means’. Her brother, Frederick Tyson, a successful criminal barrister, provides her with an entree into her role as a private investigator. This story begins with her investigation of a young widow’s background, with a view to revealing a sordid past that would make the lady an unsuitable marriage prospect. The plot thickens when the young woman is murdered.

This was a solid beginning to a promising series. The plot makes heavy use of Charles Dicken’s Little Emily subplot from David show more Copperfield. However, Kate Saunders made significant changes in character motivations and in final outcome. This book provides several female viewpoints that felt historically plausible but which would probably not have been politically correct in Charles Dicken’s time. I liked to use of an older woman as an investigator. It made the story fun for me. Letitia Rodd is not as physically indomitable as Dorothy Gilman’s Mrs. Pollifax, (no karate chops) but I think anyone who enjoyed the Pollifax series would enjoy this one. show less

In classic period literature, it's not unusual to have a plot revolve around a "fallen woman," with or without the bastard child. But I can't think of any other book where practically every character was involved in an illicit sexual affair. There were at least six characters in this book who colored outside the lines; it got to be pretty tedious after a while, as well as confusing. Since most of the characters were fairly unlikable, my motivation dwindled near the end of the book.

As an attempt to emulate the style of Victorian fiction, I thought it wasn't bad, though it's always tricky to avoid injecting a modern sensibility into such a book. It did seem rather far-fetched for the stodgy copper to take the female detective as seriously show more as he did, especially since the cop hostility to private dicks is such a time-honored tradition.

But if the author wanted to buck tradition, why did she stoop to making all her women, other than the heroine so pathetic? Almost to a woman, they were desperately in love with horrible, abusive men. Depressing.

The audio book reader did a well enough job. I guess if my library offers any more of these books, I'll probably listen. show less

Laetitia Rodd, widow, ekes out a living as a discrete private investigator. Living in reduced circumstances with her landlady, she was never wealthy, having been married to an archdeacon. Her brother is a successful barrister with a lovely wife and many children. Through his connections, Laetitia is approached with a case. She masquerades as a governess to prevent a beloved son of a wealthy family from marrying a woman of lesser status. When things go wrong, Laetitia must solve the case to save him from the hangman’s noose. After a somewhat slow beginning, this novel takes off and grabs your attention as more details come to light and the characters evolve. Many twists along the way add to the suspense. A well-written mystery, show more faithful to its setting, with likeable and gentile characters. A great start to a new series. show less