The Circle: A Grand &Batchelor Victorian Mystery

In their second investigation (after The Blue and the Grey), American Matthew Grand and Englishman James Batchelor are hired by Matthew's cousin Luther to investigate the death (or was it murder?) of Lafayette Baker. The enquiry agents arrive in Washington, DC, from London, and find a city still raw and on edge in the aftermath of the Civil War. The list of suspects on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line includes saloon owners, brothel keepers, and gamblers, not to mention members of the newly formed Ku Klux Klan. Belle Boyd, a former Confederate spy now called Mrs. Hardinge, knows more than she is willing to share with Grand and Batchelor, despite her history with Grand. Making cameo appearances are important figures of the Reconstruction era, such as Andrew Johnson, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and Edwin Stanton. Trow's characters are fully realized and the relationship between Grand and Batchelor is humorous.