We get to see Dr. Julia Lewis and Richard Tennent of Scotland yard at it again and we get to feel the chemistry between them! Working girls, shop girls, and children are vanishing off the streets and no one has really seemed to notice. When a hatmaker is caught walking past an Army Barracks late at night she is arrested and accused of being a prostitute trying to tempt the men and make them sick with disease. Detective Tennent calls in Miss Julia Lewis to do the exam figuring the young woman would be more comfortable with this sort of thing. Free of disease and in fact still a virgin the young woman is released and Julia makes clear her feelings on the matter.

Not long later a woman is found badly beaten and killed tossed on the road in a sack. Julia is called in to examine the body and so her work with Richard begins anew.
Something is rotten and dirty in the art world. Things are going on behind closed doors that should never take place and women are being used and abused.

Can Richard and Julia figure out what is happening? Or will once again Julia find herself at the mercy of a killer?

I want to thank #Netgalley for the chance to read #ASlashOfEmerald by #PatriceMcDonough in return for a fair and honest review.

I loved this sooo much and can't wait for the next one to come out!!!!

I am a big fantasy reader but a good historical fiction is my go to palate cleanser when I need a story more rooted in our world. As such it was so nice to catch up with Dr. Julia and Inspector Tennant in this new installment of the Dr Lewis Mysteries. This is by no means a cosy mystery book though, this series is a reflection of the dark and dangerous side of 1800s London. Dr Lewis our protagonist is the first female doctor in London as well as Scotland Yard. Historical fiction is made better by brave, bold and unconventional women who paved the way for the women of today.

The blurb covers the primary storyline of women artists being harassed and threatened and their models being killed or “disappearing” but this simple premise hides the undercurrents of a very well written story that twists and turns through the subjection of women by evil and rich men.

Throughout the book there is also the simmering and growing affections between Dr Julia and Inspector Tennant, Dr Julia is trying to recover from the traumas of the first book where she was almost killed. Inspector Tennant is entrenched in the Yards politics and difficult superiors. Their incredibly awkward courting in this installment was amusing but it is hopefully not an indication of it continuing to be dragged out for too long.

The central mystery revolves around the murders, threats, disappearance and harassment of female artists and the models that sat for their paintings. AS the plot unfolded my inner armchair detective was working at full speed trying to decipher the murder. The plot twists, rationale for the murder and the murderer was expertly drawn out and I am looking forward to more installments of Dr Lewis and Inspector Tennant. But that ending???? 👀

My thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for my free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I enjoyed this historical mystery so very much! This is a dark, gritty, and highly engaging book. The main characters are likable and intelligent, and it features truly excellent worldbuilding, with a well plotted mystery.

With two main plotlines and a twisty story set against the atmospheric backdrop of Victorian London, the story is vividly portrayed. Learning about the Victorian art world was surprisingly intriguing.

Readers who love a great historical mystery are a perfect fit for this book. Getting to know Inspector Richard Tennant & Dr,Julia Lewis, as this series progresses, has been a joy. I'm definitely looking forward to more of them both in this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This one is great for lovers of Stalking Jack the Ripper or Miss Scarlett! The characters are great, very likeable and complete opposites which makes their dynamic fun. This is mysterious and gritty and keeps you engaged

Absolutely loved this. The characters are fantastic, and the author keeps you guessing about the conclusion, even if you think you’ve figured it out. Well written, well researched, and just so much fun.

London 1867 A great addition to this new series that is set in almost a gothic dark setting.
When women from the art world start showing up dead, Julia and Inspector Richard dive on the case.

Mystery, deception and a plethora of situations begin to be uncovered as the journey to find the killer may not end well.

I love historical mysteries and this is not one to miss!

One of the few female doctors registered to practice in 1867 in Britain, Julia Lewis trained in Philadelphia and was able to register as a foreign doctor in Britain through a loophole. Working at her grandfather’s medical practice in London, she also works hard at a clinic she has set up for the poor in Whitechapel. After assisting Scotland Yard Inspector Richard Tennant with autopsies of several murder she is also now a medical examiner for Scotland Yard.

This atmospheric historical mystery immerses us in the world of Victorian artists and their models with many real painters making an appearance. Despite women not yet being accepted as serious artists, a few paintings by women are to be displayed in the Royal Academy’s annual exhibition, including those of Mary Allingham.

Inspector Tennant is investigating the disappearance of several young women, who worked as artists models in London as well as a recent break in to Mary Allingham’s art studio and a suspicious death in her family. Eventually, with the help of Julia and Sergeant O’Malley, he will scrape back the layers of respectable society to uncover a shocking underworld of male depravity at its worst.

The Victorian era is well depicted in this novel, with an authentic feel for the galleries, studios and the struggle of women artists to be taken seriously as painters. Julia’s own struggle to establish her career as a physician are is ongoing, but she is gradually gaining recognition for her clinic. Meanwhile, her relationship with Tennant is moving slowly. While they both admit to themselves their growing attraction for the other, they are both far too busy and socially awkward to do much about it.

With a number of clever twists and revelations, this engaging historical murder mystery will please fans of the series. Ending with somewhat of a cliff-hanger, it will also have fans waiting eagerly for the next instalment.

This was a fantastic read filled with some interesting history [while trafficking is still very prevalent today, it was fascinating to view it through the lends of 1867 and how little they had to work with and little resources as well] that really fleshed out the story [art and murder anyone?], and an excellent mystery that kept me guessing until the well-done reveal that I NEVER EVER saw coming and left me sad, but also wishing for more, or at least another book to dive into. ;-)

If you love really good historical mysteries, then this series is for you; I am so very glad I took a chance on it.

Very well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Patrice McDonough, and Kensington Publishing/Kensington for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fans of historical fiction/mystery titles will want to give this title a look. It features (as is often the case but still such fun) an unconventional woman (a medical examiner) and a Scotland Yard detective. They are in London in the year 1867.

The background for this entry in the series is the art world, one that includes some women painters. What is happening to their sitters? What is behind the suicide and murder in this world?

I am a fan Deanna Raybourn’s novels. Those who enjoy her books or this genre will, I think, enjoy McDonough’s books. Characters, setting and plot all are engaging.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

It’s a truism, but also sometimes true 😉 , an author’s second novel doesn’t live up to the promise of the first. This cannot be said about McDonough’s Slash of Emerald, which I loved compared to the strong liking I had for her first, Murder By Lamplight. In the latter, excessive, IMHO, detailed violence is toned down, characterization is heightened in dee-lightful ways (more of that later), an seamless interweaving of historical fact and fiction is maintained, and the inching towards a romance for our two protagonists moves in a satisfying way, if satisfying means “argh, kiss already”…’tis a delicious slow burn McDonough manages. Grudging, admiring kudos from yours truly. To the blurb for some details about the mystery and historical context:

London, 1867: Among the genteel young ladies of London society, painting is a perfectly acceptable pastime—but a woman who dares to pursue art as a profession is another prospect, indeed. Dr. Julia Lewis, familiar with the disrespect afforded women in untraditional careers, is hardly surprised when Scotland Yard shows little interest in complaints made by her friend, Mary Allingham, about a break-in at her art studio. Mary is just one of many “lady painters” being targeted by vandals.

Painters’ sitters are vanishing, too—women viewed by some as dispensable outcasts. Inspector Richard Tennant, however, takes the attacks seriously, suspecting they’re linked to the poison-pen letters received by additional members of the Allingham family. For Julia, the issue is complicated by Tennant’s previous relationship with Mary’s sister-in-law, Louisa, and by her own surprising reaction to that entanglement.

But when someone close to them commits suicide and a young woman turns up dead, the case can no longer be so easily ignored by ‘respectable’ society. Layer after layer, Julia and Tennant scrape away the facts of the case like paint from a canvas. What emerges is a somber picture of vice, depravity, and deception stretching from London’s East End to the Far East—with a killer at its center, determined to get away with one last, grisly murder . . .

McDonough divested her work from the previous volume’s sensationalism: serial killer, gory details, a pile-up of corpses, and not enough of Julia and Richard together. McDonough, and I write this gently, there’s still not enough Julia and Richard together, BUT of what there is, feelings are coming to the fore and I loved it. The ending is particularly poignant and the moments Richard self-admits his feelings for Julia and, as Julia does the same though they don’t share them, are wunderbar. Also, there’s banter, gentle, amused, but shared between two intelligent protagonists, lovely banter. Most important to the slow burn, there’s yearning.

While McDonough’s Richard and Julia “together” was already a highlight of Murder By Lamplight, what shines in A Slash of Emerald are the moral underpinnings to the story of the crimes. Because the suicides and murders, and some of the victims in particular, are vulnerable. We then see the best of Richard and Julia, and the loveable promoted Paddy O’Malley, now sergeant. In Murder By Lamplight, Tennant seems to be driven by upholding the law, keeping London safe, but in the present volume, there’s a righteousness to Tennant, given the corruption and exploitation that underlies some of the victims, and he takes bringing the criminals to justice personally.

Meanwhile, the art world context, the stodginess of the Royal Academy coupled with the emerging brush-stroke-loose revolutionary impressionistic style as represented by wonderfully drawn female artists and the prejudices against both their gender and style, make McDonough’s novel even better than her previous conventional blah-blah “serial killer” trope. Mary Allingham and a droll, handsome artist-beau are charming characters, ones easy to care about and cheer for. Julia’s grandfather and aunt make appearances and I hope McDonough keeps them around for the rest of the series. The dinners they share with Tennant and in particular the dinner conversations are another highlight to McDonough’s series. An even better book than the first, Miss Austen agrees, McDonough’s A Slash of Emerald offers “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma.

Patrice McDonough’s A Slash of Emerald is published by Kensington Books and released on February 25th. I received an e-galley, from Kensington, via Netgalley. The above is my honest, AI-free opinion.

Patrice McDonough introduces the second Dr. Julia Lewis mystery in a Slash of Emerald. 8167 London Dr. Lewis is learning about the careers of Victorian women artists who could have a successful career but who were regarded as not quite up to the weight of male artists. Mary Allingham is one such artist whose paintings have been vandalized. Dr. Lewis meets the rest of the family but is puzzled by the death of Mary's brother, declared a suicide Detective Inspector Tennant is following a string of murders of art models and was called in to look at Charles Allingham's death. As the investigation deepens, the police find the models deaths linked to the trafficking of young girls and Chinese immigrant women that lead to a men's club The Topkapi. Excellent look at the seamy underside of Victorian society.

A Slash of Emerald is the second historical mystery featuring Dr. Julia Lewis, by Patrice McDonough. Released 25th Feb 2025 by Kensington, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

A well crafted thoroughly researched historical novel featuring an intelligent and driven young female physician in London in 1866. She's fully licensed (having used a legal loophole to join the register of practicing physicians after finishing her studies in the USA), and has joined her grandfather's practice. She has a very keen eye for detail, and employs critical reasoning and observation to also help the police with inquiries.

It's not really a cozy cozy, there are some gruesome descriptions, but overall, the violence occurs chiefly off-page, so it's not truly horrifying. The author also doesn't shy away from the historically accurate but distressing sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, crushing poverty, and other unsavory details. Speaking of detail, the book is written around a framework of actual historical events and people, and interwoven with a lot of interesting real political and social movements of the time period. Ms. McDonough has definitely done her homework.

The characterizations are impressive, and they're three dimensional and believable, with their own motivations and agendas. There's some slow-burn development/potential romance between Julia and Richard, but it's definitely sloooow (2 books in, and there are only glimmers of romance, nothing concrete). This volume works well enough as a standalone mystery, but there are some interpersonal developments between the returning characters which will be spoiled if read out of order.

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 9 hours and 15 minutes and is capably read by series narrator Henrietta Meire. She has a light RP English accent, but does a credible job with the varied London accents both male and female. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Worth a look for readers of historical mystery and very well written. Readers who enjoy Deanna Raybourn, Anna Lee Huber, Tasha Alexander, et. al., will likely enjoy this book.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I have been exceptionally fortunate to have read books in a row where either the era or setting contributed so much to a story. This was no exception.

1867 London and Dr Julia Lewis a trail blazer. One of very few female doctors in Britain. Richard Tennant a detective with Scotland Yard someone Julia is very close to. The Allinghams, established family of artists and writers. Like every family secrets galore and the bubble burst when Charles Allingham was discovered dead by arsenic poisoning, seemingly a suicide.

No clues as to his mental state, no financial woes but Richard uncovers a web of pornography, prostitution, child abduction and more. Involving the highest in the land, there was no way this was going to be easy to cover up or disclose but the end denouement came as a surprise though with hindsight perfectly logical.

Very well written, detective work impeccable, the mix of feelings encompassing the whole story was excellent reading.

I found the characters interesting, as well as the historical setting. I enjoyed the information regarding artists of this time. The mystery kept me guessing.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was another fab mystery. I loved the dynamics between Inspector Tennant and Julia. They are both so intelligent and so dedicated to their work and justice. The killer was pretty obvious, but the underlying motives and stories were very intriguing and had quite a bit of twist and turns and were pretty brutal. The ending was also a surprise and I am eager to read the next book.

#netgalley #ASlashofEmerald

Second in the series of Dr. Juliette Lewis and Inspector Richard Tennant, living in Victorian London and solving crimes. Dr. Lewis was brought on initially to handle police cases involving inspections of suspected sex workers but she has also handled a few postmortems. Both are from upper class, though Tennant's father was involved in scandal. The second book revolves around painters, art, and sex trafficking, handled well with details that are clear but not overly detailed. Juliette and the Inspector are amazing characters with wonderful independent storylines that intertwine on both a personal and professional level. There are also many great secondary characters, such as Sgt 'Paddy' Murphy and Lady Aldridge. Author Patrice Mcdonough included real artists from the Victorian era and interesting details about suffrage in the art world, as well as the medical field. Most important, both Dr. Lewis and Inspector Tennant represent the best of what was starting to happen in Britain during the late 19th century. Highly recommend starting with Murder by Lamplight and then reading A Slash of Emerald!

1867. In the female artist world, the painters are receiving threatening letters demanding money, and their sitters are disappearing. Then bodies are discovered, and a suicide occurs. But this is just the beginning. Is there a link between the two. Inspector Tennant and doctor Julia Lewis investigate. But what will they uncover.
An entertaining and well-written historical mystery with its likeable main characters. A good addition to this series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dr. Julia Lewis once more finds herself embroiled in murder.

Inspector Richard Tennant, of Scotland Yard, calls on Julia where he can to act as the coroner In his inquiries
This time he does it out of deference to a young woman’s feelings who’s been brought in under the Contagious Diseases Act, as she’d been walking home from her work via St James’s Park, a dodgy part of London at night, and near to the barracks. Annie O’Neil is a hat maker who’s also been working as an artist’s model. However neither the Act nor the constabulary in this time of 1867 discern between everyday workers and prostitutes.
A doctor is needed to examine Annie to determine if she’s a prostitute. Julia is livid with the law. Her opinion is that, “forced examinations are medical rape.”
This is just the opening barrage in the murder of some respected members of society, apparently united until now, the puzzling disappearance and murder of young and respectable working women, threats being made against women painters who are holding a major exhibition, and the recovery of traumatized young Chinese girls who’d thought they were being sent to North America as brides, but ended up in London in brothels.
There’s more than one thread of occurrences but are they in anyway linked?
Another intriguing mystery from Mcdonough, one to get your teeth into!

A Kensington ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

A Slash of Emerald by Patrice McDonough
Dr. Julia Lewis #2

Excellent addition to the series and seamless return to a wonderful series ~ Couldn’t put it down.

What I liked:
* Dr. Julia Lewis: physician, trained in Pennsylvania, raised by her grandparents, strong, dedicated, professional, intelligent, compassionate, skilled, observant, feels something for Richard
* Inspector Richard Tennant: employed by Scotland Yard, retired Army captain, wounded at war, PTSD, intelligent, from a good background, good leader, strategist, rather taken with Julia
* Sergeant Paddy O’Malley: constable, works with Tennant, Irish, ex-boxer, family oriented, honorable, strong, good at his job, hope to see more of him in the future
* The supporting characters I hope to see more of: Dr. Andrew Lewis – Julia’s grandfather, Lady Aldridge – Julia’s Aunt Caroline, Julia’s head nurse – Clemmie, Dr. Gregory Barnes – part-time physician at the clinic, Reverend Owen Lloyd – handsome, charming, kind missionary who returned from China due to illness
* Returning to Julia’s world with her work and interactions with Richard and his work – and the potential budding romance that may eventually come to fruition
* The supporting characters
* The Allingham family dynamics and where they led – was happy that the Miss Allingham found her future partner
* The glimpse of the disparity in how male and female artists were treated
* The police investigations dealing with crimes of murder, human trafficking, “French” postcards and volumes of similar images
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* All of it except…

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about how difficult it was to live then – for so many reasons
* Having to wait for the next book

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

A Slash of Emerald by Patrice Mcdonough is Historical Mystery Fiction. The author McDonough is new to me. Her characters are not the norm for the mid 19th century and lead intriguing lives. Women not at home but rather have unusual careers, murder, mystery, and a lady medical examiner. What could be a more interesting read. I look forward to reading more by this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book. 4 Stars