Lestrade and the Dead Man's Hand - Hardcover

Trow, M. J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0895262886 ISBN 13: 9780895262882

Publisher: Gateway Editions, 2000

Synopsis

"Splendidly shaken cocktail of Victorian fact and fiction...Witty, literate, and great fun." - The Times (London)

About this title

About the Author:

M J Trow is a crime writer, historian and biographer who for many years doubled as a history teacher. Now retired, he is the author of three successful crime fiction series – Lestrade, Maxwell and Kit Marlowe, the latest written in collaboration with his wife. He lives in the Isle of Wight, and as well as writing lectures on cruise ships has appeared many times on television in historical and crime documentaries.

From Publishers Weekly:

Mystery fans may recall Inspector Lestrade as a decidedly inferior policeman who appears in the Holmes canon. Trow's Lestrade is all too human but more competent than Conan Doyle's. This 11th entry in Trow's Lestrade series provides a good time and a vatful of fascinating Victorian lore. It's 1895, and the inspector (last seen in Lestrade and the Magpie) is desperate to stop a homicidal maniac who is killing women on the Underground. Since the murders appear to be random, Lestrade has difficulty constructing a trail, and his frustration mounts with each death. As if the case were not challenging enough, Lestrade must also contend with cranky bosses, green underlings (excepting the loyal Constable Walter Dew), and mysterious "relatives" of the victims who show up at the station house. Then there's the distraction of the highly appealing Trottie True, the sister of one of the victims. The possible suspects are nicely drawn, and the cameo appearances by many famous VictoriansAthe Marquess of Queensbury and Aubrey Beardsley among themAturn this book into a kind of parlor game. The ending yields a rather arbitrary but adequate villain. But the plot is incidental; the heart of this story lies in its clever, lively language. The brazen wordplay occasionally may elicit a groan, but much more often a smile. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Gateway Editions
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0895262886
• ISBN 13: 9780895262882
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224