Murder by Lamplight

On a cold night in November 1866, Dr. Julia Lewis, one of Britain’s first practicing women doctors, is called to a grisly crime scene to examine a murder victim. While there, she meets Inspector Richard Tennant, a stoic military veteran with a haunted past. The two get off to a rocky start, as he is clearly unhappy about working with a woman physician. Even so, differences are set aside when another gruesome murder—bearing striking similarities to the first—occurs. Soon, this unlikely duo must work together to track down a sadistic serial killer prowling London’s streets, hell-bent on exacting revenge. Insightful and clever, McDonough’s stunning debut weaves elements of the cozy mystery into an engrossing historical thriller. Listeners will be captivated by both the riveting mystery and the history lesson on 1860s London, jam-packed with insight into medicine, health, labor, gender, and class dynamics at the time. Narrator Henrietta Meire shines, employing skillful dialogue work to infuse vibrancy into the story’s many characters.