Wed 15 Sep 2010
Reviewed by LJ Roberts: DERYN LAKE – Death in the Valley of Shadows.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[4] Comments
Reviews by L. J. Roberts
DERYN LAKE – Death in the Valley of Shadows. Allison & Busby, UK, hardcover, November 2003; softcover: November 2004.
Genre: Historical mystery. Leading character: John Rawlings; 9th in series. Setting: England-Georgian period.
First Sentence: What a morning it had been.
Apothecary John Rawlings is surprised when a man, Aidan Fenchurch, runs into his shop asking to be hidden from his former mistress. Once the very unpleasant woman is gone, Fenchurch is pleased to hear John also assists Sir John Fielding, magistrate of Bow Street and asks that John keep a document accusing the woman should he suddenly die.
Fenchurch is murdered on his doorstep that night but his is only the first of many deaths with each new suspect dying before the killer can be identified by John and Bow Street.
Ms Lake has a clear and wonderful voice and writes with delightful humour. Her descriptions are so visual, you want to pack and go, yet so filled with background information, such as the scene with the salesman for sheaths and cundums, as to make you an informed traveler.
The details of social behavior and custom, as well as the syntax and cadence of dialogue define the story’s place and time. It is those extra details which enrich the story and add to the experience of reading it.
John is a character who has grown with the series. No longer a somewhat callow, but talented young man, he is now a mature and very responsible man who has a remarkably understanding wife. I particularly like his honesty to his wife and to himself, as to why he works with Bow Street.
Joe Jaco, first officer to Sir John Fielding (the Blind Beak), of Bow Street is an intriguing character, and one about whom we learn a bit more with each book. Although the author provides sufficient back story on the principal characters for readers new to the series, I recommend reading the series in order. There is an excellent balance to the story between John’s life with his family and friends, internal musings, medical knowledge and information, and the drama and suspense of the investigation.
The pacing and flow are very well done, fluctuating between highs and lows. The level of suspense increases to a very dramatic ending. Even the characters comment on the case having a Shakespearean feel in the number of bodies that accumulates. Only toward the end did I begin to suspect the killer.
I am an admitted fan of this series and this is another very good contribution to it. As I’m reading the series in order, it’s nice to know I’ve many more books ahead.
Rating: Very Good Plus.
Editorial Comment: Previously reviewed on this blog was The Mills of God, the first in author Deryn Lake’s contemporary Rev. Nicholas Lawrence/DI Dominic Tennant series.
There are now 13 adventures in her series of historical mysteries with 18th century apothecary John Rawlings as the leading character. He teams up with Sir John Fielding, London’s famous blind Bow Street magistrate, in most if not all of them. Covers for these can be seen on the Fantastic Fiction website.
September 16th, 2010 at 3:11 am
Sir John Fielding certainly is a popular historical mystery character.
September 16th, 2010 at 8:05 am
I suppose between Sir John and Robert ‘Bobby’ Peel they invented the British side of modern police work — the Bow Street Runners, the ‘Peeler’s’ and the early foundations of Scotland Yard we have to expect them to show up a good deal, though Vidoq doesn’t seem to get half the attention across the channel though there is a long distinguished list of characters he inspired from Dupin to Vautrin and Lecoq — and of course Holmes.
But I can think of only a handful of novels and a Dutch comic book and a few movies (including Douglas Sirk’s A SCANDAL IN PARIS with George Sanders as Vidoq) that feature Vidoq.
And of course Sir John is a fascinating character in himself and hard for any novelist to resist.
September 18th, 2010 at 5:03 am
With regard to L.J. Roberts’ intriguing review, especially the mention of Georgian crime fighter John Fielding, I would like to draw attention to a short-run but nevertheless fascinating British TV series called City of Vice.
Focusing on blind John Fielding (played with theatrical significance by Iain Glen), the series follows his low-life London investigations when he teams up with his brother (and Tom Jones author) Henry Fielding. The latter became London’s chief magistrate and founded the Bow Street Runners in 1749.
The five-episode (ITV, January-February 2008) series was a relentlessly gloomy and often strange affair, resulting in more of an endurance test (for the viewer) than a relatively comfortable 18th century whodunit.
September 20th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Tise
I’ve placed an order for CITY OF VICE on DVD, with only a little bit of trepidation. Reviews on Amazon were mixed. Some people complained that the shows were nothing like the Bruce Alexander books, the TV production being too realistic and far too intense for them.
I don’t imagine for a moment, though, that London was all that pleasant a place to be living in back then. Maybe I won’t enjoy them either — I don’t care for many of the series on HBO and Showtime that critics and friends of mine go crazy about, for example — but it’s a time of British history that’s interesting to me, so I thought I’d give them a try.
— Steve