The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden

Saunders’s third Laetitia Rodd cozy mystery (following Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar) finds the respectable widow immersed in the scandalous world of 1853 London theater. Mrs. Rodd’s neighbor, Mr. Tully (a retired actor), is the one to introduce her to the theatrical set, when he asks her to help some former colleagues. His old friend Thomas Transome has fallen in love with the 18-year-old actress who is currently playing Juliet opposite his Romeo; Mrs. Rodd is hired to help Transome’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Sarah Transome, get a fair divorce settlement. Mrs. Rodd is soon narrating a sad, sometimes sordid story of lies and betrayal, including potential arson (Transome’s King’s Theatre went up in flames 10 years earlier, perhaps deliberately) and murder (a corpse has recently been discovered in the burned-out theater). Mrs. Rodd teams up with police inspector Thomas Blackbeard to solve the crime and deal with a false confession, accusations from the Transomes’ three actress daughters, and the stabbing death of Thomas Transome.