PAULA PAUL – An Improper Death.

Berkley, paperback original; first printing, November 2002.

   The second mystery adventure of Dr. Alexandra Gladstone has much the same virtues and flaws as the first (Symptoms of Death, May 2002). The problems of being a female doctor in Victorian England are abundantly illustrated. Trying to do surgery on a male patient’s privates, for example, takes a good amount of strategic planning.

   And in general Ms. Paul does a more than credible job in re-creating the life and times of the lower classes; it was a hard life. Where she falters is in the mystery itself, that of the death of a former British admiral, found drowned on the beach near his home, clad only in women’s undergarments (hence the title).

   Constable Snow’s mysterious behavior which follows seems strained and forced, and so do several other incidents. Worse, though, is the killer’s behavior, totally unexplainable, making any attempt to follow the clues all but hopeless.

   So, definitely a mixed bag. Read this for the characters, not for the detective work.

[UPDATE] 12-02-08.   There were only three books in the Dr. Gladstone series:

      Symptoms of Death. Berkley, pbo, May 2002.

      An Improper Death. Berkley, pbo, Nov 2002.
      Half a Mind to Murder. Berkley, pbo, Oct 2003.

   In a series coming before the Gladstone books were three adventures of Hillary Scarborough & Jane Ferguson, a mismatched pair of Southern belle decorators, all as by Paula Carter:

      Leading an Elegant Death. Berkley, pbo, Feb 1999.

      Deathday Party. Berkley, pbo, Oct 1999.
      Red Wine Goes with Murder. Berkley, pbo, July 2000.

   Under her own name and as Catherine Monroe, Paula Paul has also written a number of other books, most of them historical fiction or romantic suspense.