Death at Rottingdean
Author: Robin Paige
Copyright: 1999 (Berkley); 290 pgs.
Series: 5th in the Victorian/Edwardian Mystery series
Sensuality: N/A
Where & When: Rottingdean, Fall 1897
Summary: For Kathryn Ardleigh and her newly Lorded husband, Charles, a seaside holiday in Rottingdean is a much-needed respite. Known as Smuggler’s Village, the cozy hamlet sits upon a labyrinth of hundred-year-old tunnels through which contraband goods were once smuggled in and out of England. But when the body of a coast guard is found on the beach, the couple suspect the town is still plying the illicit trades of its past. And with the help of an imaginative young writer named Rudyard Kipling, they’re about to discover that something’s rotten in the town of Rottingdean…
Comments: A year has passed since the events of the previous book. Charles’s older brother has fininally passed away and he is now the 5th Baron Somersworth. This new role has taken him to London to fulfill his obligations in Parliament. Kate, believing it to be her duty, has moved from Bishop’s Keep to be with him. Not long after coming to London, Kate became very ill. The trip to Rottingdean is supposed to be a chance for them to relax and recuperate. The Sheridan’s are barely there a day before they find themselves drawn into the investigation of a dead coast guard.
An eleven-year-old boy, Patrick, may know more than his is willing to tell. He confides in Rudyard Kipling, who is visiting his favorite aunt. When the less-than helpful local constable shows no signs of investigating the death as a murder, Kipling asks for Charles’s help. Charles is reluctant — after all, he came to Rottingdean to spend time with Kate. But a second death is revealed to him while in the presence of the Prince of Wales and Charles’s involvement becomes official by royal decree.
Kate, or I should say, Beryl wasn’t very prominent in this one. It made the book feel as if it lacked something. I felt that Kate was side-lined and I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the others.
Started: 11 May 2008
Finished: 17 May 2008
Enjoyed it!
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Death at Devil's Bridge
4th in the Victorian/Edwardian Mystery series
Author: Robin Paige
ISBN: 0-425-16195-1 (Berkley)
Finished: 1 May 2007
Who: Sir Charles and Kathyrn Sheridan
When: September 1896 – Sir Charles and Lady Sheridan have been married 3 months (June ?). Lawerence and Amelia have been married 6 months (March ?). Ellie Farley had a son.
From the back: Together they solved the murders at the Countess of Warwick’s weekend house. . .and together they fell in love. Now newlyweds Charles and Kate Sheridan have moved into Kate’s ancestral Georgian home Bishop’s Keep, where Kate plans to devote herself to writing and Charles to the responsibilities of the landed gentry. He agrees to host an automobile exhibition and balloon race at Bishop’s Keep. But speed, competition, and money prove to be more explosive than gasoline.
The book opens with Bess Gurton nearly getting run over by an automobile. She’s an old friend of Mrs. Pratt, the cook at Bishop’s Keep, and she was on her way to visit Pratt to get an ingredient for her “flying potion”. On the road outside Bishop’s Keep, she stumbles across the body of Old Jessup. According to the surgeon and the coroner, Old Jessup died of natural causes brought on by his habits and was not run over by Bradford Marsden’s Daimler (driven by the Honorable Charles Rolls). However, the villagers believe he was either hit by the car or, at the very least, frightened to death by it.
It is established from the very first that Jessup’s death is not the primary mystery of this book. Most of the locals are not happy with the Bradford’s automobile show and balloon chase. The cars are noisy, go too fast, and upset the horses. The balloons cause major damage to property. Sabotage of one of the cars leads to the death of its driver. There are plenty of motives and suspects, and it’s up to Sir Charles to examine the crime scene for clues. He finds a partial fingerprint and an unusual grease stain. Using forensic techniques, he is able to identify the saboteur. However, for the local jury, his findings are too fantastic to grasp and the guilty party goes free.
The book is more about resistance to change as new inventions and ideas come to rural England then the mystery itself. The fingerprints, the way the grease was identified, Mrs. Pratt’s gas cooker, the automobiles, and even Patsy Marsden’s desire to travel the world as a photographer instead of marrying the man her mother has chosen for her are all changes that meet with resistance of some sort. Constable Larken makes the comment that one day “man may be condemned by the voice of his own blood.”
Kate learns that her identity as Beryl Bardwell is common, if unspoken, knowledge among her staff and friends. Charles has been busy introducing modern inventions to Bishop’s Keep. He even invites engineer Henry Royce to see his handiwork. Mr. Royce will one day form a business partnership with another guest, the Honorable Charles Rolls, but for the time being he’s more interested with Kate’s roses than automobiles.
Liked A Lot
Third book in the series. . .
Sir Charles Sheridan is many things — an amateur scientist, a renowned photographer, and a skilled detective. And due to long-established customs still held in Victorian England, he will soon become a baron — rendering him unable to marry Kate Ardleigh, an Irish-American writer of the popular, yet frowned upon “penny dreadfuls”. Even as the customs of the time keep them apart, a good murder case always seems to bring them together. The Countess of Warwick, the Prince of Wales’ mistress affectionately known as “Daisy”, is the subject of endless rumors about her “unladylike” ways and temperament. But what happens during a weekend party at her Easton estate is uglier than any rumor. First, a stableboy is killed. Then a nobleman is murdered outside Daisy’s well-known trysting spot. Seeking to avoid scandal, the Prince of Wales orders Sir Charles to solve the case.
3rd in the Victorian/Edwardian Mystery series
ISBN: 0-425-15671-0 (Berkley)
Finished: 5 Sep 2006
Who: Kathryn Ardleigh and Sir Charles Sheridan
When: November 1895 – Charles is 34 and Kate is 27.
This story was about real people. Daisy Brooke was the real-life mistress of Prince of Wales, AKA “Bertie”. Her influence over the prince caused some concerns as she had socialist ideas.
In this fictional story, Queen Victoria has charged Sir Friedrich Temple to do whatever necessary to “clean up” after the prince and end Daisy’s influence. Though he only intended blackmail, his co-conspirator Milford Knightly accidently kills a stableboy, and then murders Lord Reginald Wallace. Kate and Charles are able to solve the case, but as Sir Friedrich was acting on orders of the Queen, the worst the Prince of Wales can do is exile him to India. Knightly, on the other hand, is killed trying to escape on horseback. We learn from the author’s notes that Daisy’s relationship with the prince will only survive a year or two longer. She will be replaced by Alice Keppel, who has the distinction of being the ancestress of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwell, wife of the current Prince of Wales.
One of the significant events, for the series, is that Charles learns his childless brother is dying. This means he will shortly become the 5th Baron of Somersworth. At first, he believes that this will change his plans to finally ask Kate to marry him. He assumes she would not wish to marry into the British nobility. However, as they are standing over a dead body, the pair finally declare their love. Charles, much to Kate’s relief, is surprised — but not upset — to learn that she is Bardwell and he insists that she continue writing as long as she desires.
My pet peeve: Charles is not Lord Sheridan. Nor will Kate be Lady Kate. The correct form of address for the future baron and baroness, until Robert dies, is Sir Charles and Lady Sheridan. When Charles becomes the 5th Baron of Somersworth, they will be known as the Right Honorable Lord and Lady Somersworth.
Daisy’s favorite poem:
Be fair or foul, or rain or shine,
The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine.
Not Heaven itself upon the past has power;
But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.
— John Dryden
Liked A Lot
The 2nd book in the series.
In “Death at Bishop’s Keep”, Kathryn Ardleigh captured the interest of detective Sir Charles Sheridan as they solved their first case together. Now the demise of a local constable and the disappearance of a child have the sleuthing couple on the trail of deadly greed and criminal mischief once again. And with the help of a shy woman who calls herself Beatrix Potter, Kate intends to uncover the sinister secrets of Gallows Green…
2nd in the Victorian/Edwardian Mystery series
Author: Robin Paige
ISBN: 0-425-16399-7 (Berkley)
Finshed: 1 Jun 06
Who: Kathryn Ardleigh and Sir Charles Sheridan
When: May 1895 England – Seven months have passed
Kate and Charles spend very little time together in this book. The victim is a constable and friend of Sir Charles’s childhood friend, Edward Laken. Edward asks for Charles help, so they are already on the case by the time Kate returns to the Keep with Beatrix Potter in tow.
Kate and Charles each finally come to realize that the other is the only one they could love and marry. However, Kate still isn’t sure what Sir Charles thinks of her. She wasn’t raised according to the British social class system and doesn’t fit anyone’s idea of a proper British heiress. Sir Charles’s dilemma is a bit more complicated. Rumor has it that Kate and Edward have an understanding (they don’t), so Charles’s a bit surprised when Bradford Marsden informs him of his plans to purpose to Kate. Edward and Bradford are Sir Charles’s friends and he can’t bring himself to be a rival to either of them.
What Charles and Bradford both seem to forget is that Kate’s not going to marry just because it’s a good social match like, Eleanor and Mr. Fairley. Both men are certain that she’ll see the advantage she would gain by marrying the son of baron. It would have been interesting to see Kate refuse Bradford, but we are deprived of the scene because Bradford informs his mother of his intentions. She objects to the match for many reasons, including the fact that Kate’s Irish. But it’s the rumor of her impending marriage to Edward that settles it for Bradford.
It eventually comes to Sir Charles attention that Edward has an unrequited love for Agnes Oliver, the widow of the slain police officer, and has never looked at Kate as anything other than a friend.
The Keep’s servants are all back and so are Inspector Wainwright and Sergeant Battle. We also meet the delightful Betsy Oliver, who’s animal pets will inspire Beatrix Potter.
Liked A Lot
In preparation for reading the 4th book in the series, here’s my review of the first book.
Kate Ardleigh is everything the Victorian English gentlewoman is not–outspoken, free-thinking, American…and a writer of the frowned upon “penny-dreadfuls.” Soon after her arrival in Essex, England, a body is unearthed in a nearby archeological dig–and Kate has the chance to not only research her latest story…but to begin her first case with amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan.
1st in the Victorian/Edwardian Mystery series
ISBN: 0-425-16435-7 (Berkley)
Finshed: 16 April 2006
Who: Kathryn Ardleigh and Sir Charles Sheridan
When: 1894 England – Kathyrn arrives in September. Kate is approximately 25 and Charles is 33.
I couldn’t put this book down. I was immediately hooked by Kate and her circumstances. Though the mystery wasn’t too complicated, there was a time or two the authors had me doubting the murderer’s identity. I liked how Kate and Charles were not immediately drawn to one another, and that it will be a gradual thing. I also like the historical touches. This was the time when things like the telephone and the camera were becoming more common. When forensic science was becoming more common in crime investigation.
LOVED IT !!
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