MYSTERY

The Daughters of Gentlemen: A Frances Doughty Mystery

by Linda Stratmann
Mystery Pr., dist. by Trafalgar Square. Aug. 2013. 288p. ISBN 9780752464756. pap. $14.95; ebk. ISBN 9780752477312. M
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New PI Frances Doughty is hired to find out who slipped inflammatory feminist pamphlets into schoolgirls' desks at an upscale London academy. The school administrators want to quell any tone of impropriety about the incident since one of them is a candidate in the upcoming 1880 parliamentary election. Well, Frances is not one to squelch the truth, and she doggedly pursues her clues. Suspiciously, one of the school's maids, Matilda, disappears. The staff is ready to blame Matilda for the pamphlet incident, but when Frances finds her murdered body, she knows that much more is at stake than rhetoric. Politics, the women's suffrage movement, and confusion over family identities all whirl together to create a complex challenge for diligent Frances.
VERDICT Known for her true crime writing (Chloroform: The Quest for Oblivion), Stratmann has neatly turned that expertise into a winning series; this follows her mystery debut, The Poisonous Seed. The story unfolds slowly and deliberately and aptly demonstrates the author's awareness of Victorian society's mores. Her wit will reward readers who stay with the elaborate plot.
Reviewed by Teresa L. Jacobsen , Aug 01, 2013
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