The Murder of Patience Brooke

The Murder of Patience Brooke, is the first in a series by J. C. Briggs's

Thank you to Sapere Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair review.

The book is a work of historical fiction and is murder mystery set in Victorian London in the opening scene a gruesome murder is discovered the victim Patience Brooke. Superintendent Jones of Bow Street police and Charles Dickens are called upon to investigating the murder why Charles Dickens is called for also becomes clear in the opening scene. ( No spoilers from me )

The author has done a wonderful job of researching Charles Dickens and the time period in which the book is set, doing excellent job of being the sites sound and smells Victorian London.

My only complaint being that I found the book very lengthy in some places but a very good read.

Recommended to lovers of crime stories and historical fiction.

Set in February 1849 in Victorian London, Charles Dickens is starting work on writing his latest novel, David Copperfield. With funding received from Miss Courts, a wealthy benefactor, he has been able to set up and successfully run Urania Cottage, a home for fallen women. One foggy night the matron of the home is shocked to discover the murdered body of Patience Brooke stabbed and tied to the railings in the garden. The young lady had worked as her assistant and although she was quiet and dutiful, it seemed she was fleeing something awful in her past which she would never discuss. Keen to avoid scandal, Dickens goes straight to his friend Superintendent Sam Jones of Bow Street Police, a well respected detective and in many ways like a father to Charles. Their search for the truth takes them from the luxury of wealthy gentlemen's clubs right down to the seedy squalid underbelly of London and all its varied inhabitants, together with foggy slums and slimy alleyways that the reader can almost feel. Much of the rags to riches history of Dickens' early life is related in the story and he fears at times that someone is making his past come back to haunt him as the investigation takes them first one way and then another in their search for the Crooked Man. As they delve deeper more sadness and depravity is unearthed before they are able to arrive at the truth. I liked the way that Dickens' progress in his own writing was tracked throughout the book, and the book is teeming with rich well described characters that instantly come to life, something that the author has a real talent for. I would most definitely recommend this book and I am very pleased to see that there are already three more in the series to look forward to.

We are taken into the world of Victorian London and Charles Dickens detective work with Superintendent Jones of Bow Street. Charles has set up a home for fallen women run by Matron Morson. Recently arrived is Patience Brooke a women with no past and now brutally murdered. The trail for Dickens and Jones will follow the crooked face pedlar to London’s slums. They navigate these slums with the help of a boy Scrap. This is a time when the huge differences in society show through in the story. It was an enthralling read interspersed with the writing of Dickens books.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Quite a few twists and turns in this book. If you like detective novels set in the 1800s then this book will suit you. It's not a book that you get so engrossed in that you can't put it down and a few more murders would have made it more interesting but at the end of it I did want to start on the 2nd in the series 'Death at Hungerford Stairs' straight away, which luckily Ive already got.

First I would like to thank net galley and sapere books for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review
The book is historical fiction about a murder set in Victorian London I enjoyed the book so much the author has done a fantastic job of transporting the reader back to old London and with great characters Including Charles Dickens. If you have not read any of Charles Dickens books there are some spoilers in this book. I was so griped from start to Finish reading this one I can’t wait to read the next ones. I can definitely say this is a recommended read