Rambling (A Little) About.. M. J. Trow's The Circle

When I read the first book in the Grand & Batchelor Victorian Mystery series I fell in love with all of the details and how Trow wove the fictional in to the non-fictional. This time, unfortunately, it all felt like it was too much. Even though it's a fairly short book (the epub-ARC I received from NetGalley clocks in at 222 pages on my app) it felt longer and as though a third of the words could be removed without it hindering the tale. Maybe I was just too distracted with other things at the time. Normally a book this length would take a maximum of two days for me. It's now day six. I would still recommend the series to anyone who enjoys historical mysteries, though. Perhaps reading the two books back-to-back would feel more cohesive. Perhaps I'll try at some point.

Book Beginnings & Friday56 : M.J. Trow's The Circle

I'm SO happy that the follow-up to M.J. Trow's The Blue and The Grey is on its way and even happier that NetGalley has it available to request! I loved the first one and rambled about it last February here. So far this one is just as wonderful. Of course, since I'm reading a digital ARC the quotes above may differ in the final.

The Amazon description:

July, 1868. On receiving a commission from Matthew’s cousin Luther to look into the suspicious death of Lafayette Baker, Head of the US National Detective Police, private investigators Matthew Grand and his business partner James Batchelor leave London for Washington DC. They find a country still scarred by the bitter legacy of the Civil War and even in death Lafayette Baker remains one of the most hated men north or south of the Potomac.
The newly-created Ku Klux Klan wanted him dead. So did the Washington brothel-keepers, bar-owners and gamblers whom Baker had closed down. What does beautiful former spy Miss Belle Boyd know that she’s not telling them? And could the President himself be involved?
Matthew Grand finds he has come home to a mixed reception, while Batchelor struggles as an Englishman abroad. Will either of them survive long enough to uncover the truth?

As always, Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice & Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

M. J. Trow's The Blue and The Grey

***I received this title for free from NetGalley and Severn House. 

The free-ness in no way influenced my opinion.***

I feel strange saying that I'm a fan of the Civil War. It just sounds wrong and it was truly a horrible time -- but I've always been a fan of stories from and about that time period. Likewise, Victorian England has always held a special place in my lit-based heart. When I read the description on NetGalley for M. J. Trow's upcoming The Blue and The Grey (set to be released April 1st) and saw that it combined the two? I knew it was one that I would have to read.

The year is 1865. Abraham Lincoln has just been assassinated in Washington, D.C. by John Wilkes Booth. Prostitutes are being butchered in London by the Haymarket Strangler. The stars are Captain Matthew Grand -- an American Civil War veteran who was at the theater when Lincoln was shot and gave chase to Booth, and James Batchelor -- a London-based journalist who ended up covered in a butchered prostitute's blood. Grand travels to London on a mission from the pre-Secret Service agency investigating a conspiracy surrounding Lincoln's assassination and ends up joining forces with Batchelor, who is working with the local police in regards to the Haymarket Strangler.

Trow tells the tale beautifully. The supporting characters are fleshed out more than I typically expect and the locations are so richly detailed that the cities feel like characters all on their own. The sights, the smells, the feels (both physical and emotional) all vivid and vibrant. I felt my heart racing with anxiety -- and also snorted my coffee from the humor. A few times (or more) I got frustrated because I wanted to piece things together just so in my head only to have them jostled out of place by Trow within a couple of pages. I love that it wasn't all neat and tidy and actually threw me off kilter!

The Blue and The Grey is the first in a series and I'll definitely be keeping track for when the second is announced and released.