The Devil's Ribbon by D.E. Meredith

Title: The Devil's Ribbon
Author: D.E. Meredith
ISBN: 9780312557690
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2011
Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery, #2 Hatton and Roumande mystery
Rating: B
Source: Publicist

First Line: Nothing but shadows and an eerie stillness in the heat of a simmering night as a figure stoops under a lintel and makes his way quickly, through a labyrinth of alleys, before finding Berry Street and heading north along the Farringdon Road.

It is July, 1858, and Londoners are suffering through the hottest summer on record. Forensic scientist Adolphus Hatton and his assistant Albert Roumande have a morgue filled with Irish cholera victims. A decade ago these people were forced into the worst of London's slums because of the horrific famine. The Irish in London may be a race apart, but they are a close knit people and very politically aware.

A series of seemingly unconnected murders occur in which all the victims are linked by a Fenian green ribbon that's left on the corpses. Hatton and Roumande are called in to help with Scotland Yard's investigation, and Hatton finds himself attracted to the beautiful widow of one of the murder victims. As agitators work the streets and the body count rises, Hatton and Roumande must race to find answers before London is torn apart.

I'm happy to say that I found this book to be a vast improvement over the first book in the series, Devoured. The plot is much clearer and the pacing much smoother. There is also more forensic detail in this book, which was so lacking in the first.  Meredith includes many details of what the Irish had to endure during the Famine, both in Ireland and in London, and it adds great depth to the story.

Adolphus Hatton is given a past in this book, and he becomes a much better defined character, even though much of this is done through the convention of falling in love with the widow of one of the victims. Hopefully we'll see more of the very interesting Albert Roumande's backstory in future books as well.

The only real letdown in the book is that the killer was extremely easy to guess. I don't know if the author intended to do this in an attempt to lead readers astray with another character, but it wasn't successful.

All in all, I'm glad that I decided to overlook the disappointment I found in the first book and to focus on the promise that was there. In The Devil's Ribbon, I see the real beginning of a very promising historical mystery series.

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Devoured by D.E. Meredith

Title: Devoured
Author: D.E. Meredith
ISBN: 9780312557683
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2010
Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery, #1 Hatton and Roumande mystery
Rating: D+
Source: Publicist

First Line: The door creaked open as the maid stepped into the room.

The year is 1856, and the London elite find themselves gripped by the craze of collecting specimens. Expeditions are being sent to far-off jungles to gather the known and the unknown. Combine this addiction with the new theories of evolution that are changing the ways people think about themselves and the world around them, and a potentially explosive situation is being created.

Glamorous Lady Bessingham prides herself on being ahead of all her friends in anything from fashion to the latest scientific discoveries. She's the recipient of letters from Benjamin Broderig, a young man just recently returned from an expedition to Borneo. When Lady Bessingham is found murdered and those letters stolen, Medical Jurisprudence adviser Adolphus Hatton and his assistant Albert Roumande, are called in to examine the crime scene. The new world of forensics and autopsy examinations are viewed with suspicion, but Scotland Yard has found Hatton and Roumande capable of very useful observations. However, they've barely begun when one murder turns into a series of them-- all with those letters at the heart.

I can always be tempted with a good historical mystery, especially one featuring the beginnings of forensic science. In Devoured, Meredith's setting and time period are extremely well done. I felt as though I were right in the middle of Victorian London, and the author's building tension through a creepy, gloomy atmosphere was quite effective. Unfortunately, too many other elements were uneven and confusing.

Although we're told what marvels Hatton and Roumande are at interpreting crime scenes, we see very little of it. If you're a CSI fan and want to read a book with quite a bit of detail about your favorite science, you're not going to find it here. In addition, Meredith gives just enough information about her two main characters to make them intriguing. Very little about the two, their backgrounds or motivations, is actually shared with us, which made it difficult to empathize with either of them.

As I read, I kept feeling that this book would have benefited from more editing. The narrative often felt very disjointed-- a character would be doing something and I'd wonder "How did we get here?" A secondary thread involving the murders of prepubescent girls really wasn't necessary; it deflected attention away from the "Borneo letters" murders and would have been better used as the focus of a separate book. While I'm on the topic of those letters, people are being murdered left and right because of them, but guess what? The letter writer himself is in London. Why were no attempts made on his life?

Although I did find this book a bit muddled, I can also see that, as a series, it does show considerable promise. It will be interesting to see what Meredith does with the second book in the series, The Devil's Ribbon.

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