Book: The Nightingale Affair
Author: Tim Mason
Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Algonquin Books, for sending me an ARC.

In this one, we are taken back to Victorian times. There is a bunch of murders going on in London and people are trying to figure out what is going on. All of them are traced back to Florence Nightingale and her nurses. However, they are the ones who are accused of being the killers, but rather they are the targets. No one knows why and knows who is going to be next. There is a war going on, so could this be the reason behind it? Is the enemy trying to kill off those who are helping keep British soldiers alive? An arrest is made and that is the end of it. However, twelve years later it starts again.

This set-up is something that should have had me hooked right from the start. We have a very historical setting with murders in the backdrop. We don’t know who did and we have a cast of characters with a reason for murder. The setting is known and there is this sense of the unknown. I should have been pulled in and I was. However, I did find myself being pulled out. It wasn’t so much the storytelling and the plot itself.

If am being honest, I will say that it was the characters. As I have said, we have been given this large cast of characters. All of them have a reason to be the killers. Yet, it was very difficult to remember who was who and what their role was supposed to be. This lack of development made it very hard to become involved in the characters. I could not tell you who have of the people was and whom they were supposed to be tied into the plot. This is sad because there could have been so many strong character moments and characters.

Along with the characters not being developed as well as they should have been, the why behind the plot is also lacking. We never get a true sense as to why people are being targeted. We are told that they are almost chosen for this. I would have liked to have seen the why for it. It just needed a little bit more to convince me as to why I should become involved and why these events unfolded as they did.

Overall, I think the lack of development is what made it very hard for me to become involved in the story. I needed something a little bit more.

This book comes out on May 9, 2023.

I love Victorian Age novels. And The Nightingale Affair is filled with personalities and history from the age, and reads more Victorian than contemporary.

Inspector Charles Field was known as the inspiration for Charles Dicken’s character Inspector Bucket. Everyone understands the connection, and fame is a tiresome burden. During the Crimean War, he was sent to the Crimea to investigate a serial killer who left a calling card of an embroidered red rose. Florence Nightingale and her nurses were in danger. Now, Field is now a private investigator asked to aid with the investigation into a new series of murders with all the hallmarks of the Beast of the Crimea. The man accused of the murders in the Crimea is dead–Field saw his death. Either he had the wrong man then, or there is a copy cat killer in London.

The London murderer has chosen his victims with a purpose: they are bluestocking ladies and men who support women’s suffrage. Florence Nightingale may be a well-off society lady, now retired from the world, but as a nurse she stood up to the male dominated medical profession to promote practices that forever changed how the ill and wounded were cared for, concerned with cleanliness and healthy food and palliative care for the dying. Field married one of Nightingale’s nurses and they have two adopted children. They are, like Nightingale, all at risk. The threat becomes very personal.

The novel takes us back to the Crimea for the back story, then forward to Field’s new investigation. It is a complicated, serpentine path to the truth.

I enjoyed this mystery for it’s atmosphere and how it is peopled with characters including Prime Minister Disraeli, philosopher and member of Parliament John Stuart Mill, and Wilkie Collins, Dicken’s friend and author of The Moonstone and Woman in White. Those in the know will love references such as Field getting his start as Mr. Fielding’s Bow Street Runners, a group began by Henry Fielding, author of The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling, and his brother John. The Bow Street Runners are known as the first professional police force.

I found it fairly quick reading and an enjoyable, atmospheric mystery.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for a free book.

I cannot imagine the research needed to connect Florence Nightingale, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, and the commoners of London over several decades so I will just say kudos to Tim Mason.

There are several mysteries afoot in The Nightingale Affair. Mason does a beautiful job of keeping us on track and everything organized for us to follow the crumbs left throughout the story. We are let in on the secret identity of the killer, but the killer is still hidden in the shadows upon the layers that Field and we need to figure out.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. I can well imagine the concept of this mystery playing out today. Mason gives us a political intrigue that we can recognize if we look hard enough.

Hopefully Field continues his detective work because this was a fine jaunt through time and mysteries. The Nightingale Affair makes me want to read more about Florence and I might just take up Mason’s reading suggestions.

"The New Victorian Detective Thriller from the Author of The Darwin Affair.

Tim Mason's gripping new novel finds Inspector Charles Field hunting a ruthless serial killer who is terrorizing Florence Nightingale and her nurses in Crimea in 1855. But when the main suspect turns up dead, Field determines the case is closed. Or is it? Twelve years later in London, amidst the turmoil surrounding the expansion of voting rights, Field discovers a woman's body, mouth covered by the killer's signature embroidered rose. Did Field suspect the wrong man before, or is he dealing with a copycat? Either way, with his own family now at risk, he must race against time to stop the killer before more bodies turn up.

Populated with real figures of the day, from Benjamin Disraeli to Florence Nightingale herself, The Nightingale Affair offers vivid details, surprising twists, and an unforgettably creepy villain. A stand-alone novel, perfect for fans of Charles Finch's Victorian detective stories."

A serial killer targeting Florence Nightingale? Yes please!

I tried so many times to like this book, but honestly it was just boring. It didn't capture my attention. The cover is absolutely beautiful though. It's a shame I couldn't get into this book, but frankly, I don't think I am the target audience.

I am sorry, but I found this book extremely boring. I read it to the end, though I have to admit, I basically skimmed the last twenty-five pages because I felt like I needed to finish it to give it a complete chance, but it just never impressed me.

This is a murder mystery set in the time of Florence Nightingale. Where women start showing up dead in her nurses uniforms (whether they were nurses of not) and with a rose stitched onto their lips.

That sounds interesting enough. A historical fiction piece that deals with the politics of the time, maybe I'll get a little boast to pick up another non fiction on Nightingale herself along with picking out what I have learned about her in the book, and also get a mystery out of it.

The book was terrifyingly boring to read. I think I could have done alright with the writing style being as flat as it was, but Inspector Field himself was as dull as a rock, and the way this book insisted on meandering onto little details that ended up not being important, but maybe were supposed to be building character, which was unneeded because, once again, Field was boring as stale bread, maybe worse, just made this book so hard to get through.

I went into this book totally expecting to be sucked in immediately. I loved the premise and the aspect of real historical characters. However, I found it much more difficult to read through than I anticipated.

I struggled with the hatred and treatment, of women in the story. Overall, I found it difficult to stay interested even though the writing was done very well.

I feel that there is probably a very specific type of reader who will really enjoy this book. Someone who enjoys politics, history and mysteries may find this book a bit more interesting than I did.

A few weeks ago, I picked up a used copy of Tim Mason's The Darwin Affair, which I enjoyed immensely. Subsequently, I was delighted to see that I had the follow-up to this title, The Nightingale Affair, waiting to be read and reviewed.

Both of these novels have a definite darkness to them. They're unsettling, not cozy, but also not soaked in gore (just sort of dampened in gore). As the titles suggest, they're set during the reign of Queen Victoria and are firmly planted in the politics and social values of the time.

The Nightingale Affair explores two related series of murders—the first in Crimea during the war with Russia, the second a number of years after the war's end. The central character, former Detective Inspector Charles Field, thought he had solved the case the first time around, but clearly he hadn't, so he's investigating again. His relationship with the police force he used to be a part of is difficult. One officer who served under him still sees him as an ally; the head of the force sees him as an interloper with a history of problematic behavior.

The family life of Inspector Field is a bit complicated. The reader can definitely work out the relationships among characters while reading this title, but I would recommend beginning with The Darwin Affair, so one can approach The Nightingale Affair fully informed.

The political context of the novel is also complicated. A move is underway to open the vote to men beyond landowners (currently the only ones who have the franchise) as is the fight for women's suffrage. Conservatives see expanding the male franchise as a first step toward (egad!) allowing women to vote. Liberals see expanding the male franchise as far too small a step toward expanding British political participation. Nightingale and her nurses figure in because the Crimea murders were clearly based in the struggle to improve military medicine and empower women nurses as qualified practitioners, rather than as immoral camp followers. The more recent murders have involved a greater variety of victims, but the motivation seems to remain the same.

If you enjoy historical mysteries that include real-world characters, you'll find The Nightingale Affair a pleasure to read—and I expect you'll join me in hoping for more Charles Field cases to come. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

An excellent historical/thriller that follows Inspector Charles Field from the war to Victorian London as he chases a serial killer. Filled with political intrigue and a cast of well known people including Florence Nightingale and Benjamin Disraeli it will keep you on the edge of your seat.

A lot of aspects of this book I found somewhat triggering. It was quite descriptive in the killer's treatment of the women. The story was, however, interesting and very enjoyable.

2.75/5 stars! The premise of this book sounded so interesting and I was really looking forward to reading it. I'm always interested in serial killer stories where there's a break in murders. I want to understand the 'why' behind it and the killer's motivations and drives. The issue is that the author leaned a little too far into being historically accurate in the treatment of women in this book. It felt kind of intense and mean and gave me the ick. But the storyline itself was decent and with that exception, I think a lot of writers would likely enjoy it.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I preserved to 50% but could not make myself finish “The Nightingale Affair.” A book this length, I can fly through it in 2-3 hours. But I’m currently on day three (or is it four?) and I am done. The hatred toward women and the cavalier attitude regarding sexual relationships turns my stomach, and I have no wish to proceed to the story’s finale.

Love the historical aspect and the twists and turns but found the writing stiff and with too much uninteresting (to me) filler. Others might feel differently but I could not get excited by either the characters or by the background.