Book Review: ISLAND OF BONES BY IMOGEN ROBERTSON

Genre:  Historical Mystery
Published:  Headline  (Mar 2012)
Pages:  466  (Paperback)
Source:  BookDagger RealReaders




About the Book:


Cumbria, 1783. A broken heritage; a secret history...

The tomb of the first Earl of Greta should have lain undisturbed on its island of bones for three hundred years.When idle curiosity opens the stone lid, however, inside is one body too many. Gabriel Crowther's family bought the Gretas' land long ago, and has suffered its own bloody history. His brother was hanged for murdering their father, the Baron of Keswick, and Crowther has chosen comfortable seclusion and anonymity over estate and title for thirty years. But the call of the mystery brings him home at last.

Travelling with forthright Mrs Harriet Westerman, who is escaping her own tragedy, Crowther finds a little town caught between new horrors and old, where ancient ways challenge modern justice. And against the wild and beautiful backdrop of fells and water, Crowther discovers that his past will not stay buried.




The story starts in 1751 at the Tower of London on the eve of the execution of Gabriel's brother who has been found guilty of the murder of their father.  There seems to be no love lost between the two brothers.


Next the time moves on to 1783 where an old tomb on the Island of Bones is found to contain a body that should not be there - could these two events be connected?


Attempting to solve the mystery are two unlikely friends -- Gabriel Crowther (a straight talking man in his fifties who has become quite renowned at ferreting all sorts of information from a body) and the recently widowed Mrs Harriet Westerman, a strong-minded thirty year old woman who is not a conventional 18th century lady!  What really worked best in this book was their unusual relationship and I do wonder how people of that time looked upon them.  Not that either of them cared much for convention.


I also loved the folklore of the Lake District when people believed in fairies and bogles and witches......plus an assortment of interesting characters like Casper Grace, a cunning man who most of the people trusted more than the doctors of the time to treat their ailments.  


I found the story quite slow moving at first as we meet all the characters while the plot moved at a snail's pace but I soon immersed myself into the complex story and, by the end, I was quickly turning the pages to discover the  secrets and twists in the tale, mainly due to the multiple narratives which really added to the intriguing plot.


This is the third in the Crowther & Westerman series and there are just enough references to the past stories to give you an idea of what has been happening earlier.


This is a compelling story that intrigues me enough to want to read more of this unlikely partnership.


The website of Imogen Robertson can be found here.

Book Review: THE DETECTIVE BRANCH BY ANDREW PEPPER

Genre:  Historical Mystery
Published:  Orion Books  (Feb 2010) 
Pages:  372  (Paperback)
Source:  BookDagger RealReaders
My Rating:  8.5/10

About the Book:

Drury Lane, 1844. A robbery has been committed at a pawnbroker's, leaving three people dead. The man called in to investigate is Pyke, head of the Metropolitan Police's newly formed Detective Branch at Scotland Yard.
Pyke must find the culprit and quickly, especially as the identity of one of the victims threatens to expose his own criminal past. 
A valuable religious artefact appears to have motivated the robbery but when the main suspect commits suicide in police custody, the investigation falters. Then the rector of a wealthy parish is brutally murdered and Pyke spots a connection. His suspicions lead him to a dissolute former Catholic priest, rumours of devil worship, and an old case that no one wants him to investigate.
With time running out and the murderer threatening to kill again, Pyke must face up to forces within the police and the church who would prefer the secrets of the past to remain buried forever.
Pyke joins the newly formed Detective Bureau of the Metropolitan police in a tale of corruption and murder.

This is the 4th book in the Victorian mystery series featuring Detective Pyke.  I haven't read any of the first three so I can't compare this with the earlier ones.

Pyke had a chequered past, he had been convicted of murder and sentenced to hang, only to escape and earn a full pardon, he had also served some time in the debtors prison.

He was certainly no goody goody but he was a good policeman and "as he looked down at the bodies.....it was his job to remain detached, to see things as they were, but it was hard work to look at the crime scene and not feel a twinge of excitement.  An abomination had been perpetrated and it was his job to find the man or men responsible.
At bottom, it was why he'd agreed to join the police force; because he loved the thrill of the chase."

He had a strained relationship with his 14 year old son, a strained relationship with his superiors and an equally strained relationship with his peers in the Detective Branch.  All in all, he's not very good with people.

What started off as a routine robbery/murder soon turned into a complicated story of a stolen church artefact, a man accused of murdering a child, past murders that may or may not be related to this murder investigation and other surprising turn of events.

This was a better than average mystery which seemed slow at the beginning, there were a lot of characters to remember but once the story had developed I became thoroughly engrossed and had no idea which way it was going to go.

Special Thanks to BookDagger RealReaders for sending it to me.

About the Author:


Andrew Pepper is a lecturer in American Writing and Contemporary Crime Fiction at Queen's University, Belfast. His first novel, THE LAST DAYS OF NEWGATE, was shortlisted for the CWA NEW BLOOD AWARD. He lives in Belfast with his partner and children.