Posted on August 9, 2024 by sjhigbee
I thoroughly enjoyed Westerson’s book Courting Dragons, the first in a murder mystery series set in the court of Henry VIII, featuring the King’s jester, Will Somers. So when I saw this one on Netgalley, I immediately requested it.
BLURB: London, 1895. Although their last high-profile case was a huge success, private detectives Tim Badger and Benjamin Watson know they can’t afford to turn down any work, despite financial assistance from their mentor, Sherlock Holmes.
So when the eminent Doctor Enoch Sawyer of St Bart’s Hospital asks Badger if the duo will provide security for a mummy unwrapping party he is hosting, Badger doesn’t hesitate to take the job. After all, how hard can guarding the doctor’s bizarre Egyptian artifacts be? But with Doctor Sawyer running late for his own party, the ‘genuine’ ancient sarcophagus of Runihura Saa is unravelled to reveal the remains of . . . Doctor Sawyer! Suddenly, the pair are drawn into a case that’s stranger and twistier than they could ever have imagined.
REVIEW: If, like me, you haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading the first book in the series, don’t be put off reaching for this entertaining historical whodunit. Westerson gives us all the background we need to appreciate where our two plucky private detectives are in their careers – and how Sherlock Holmes fits into the scheme of things.
For those of you who may not be aware – the ‘Irregular’ of the series title alludes to the scruffy gang of street children that Holmes employed to spy on various suspects during his cases, which he named the Baker Street Irregulars. One of our detectives, Tim Badger, used to be part of Holmes’ gang until he grew too old. As Holmes used to say – children loitering on street corners were mostly ignored by adults, so were ideal for following people. And breaking into houses to hold of vital clues, or incriminating objects.
I like the fact that Tim had a really tough time establishing himself. Victorian England was very class-conscious and though a number of celebrated men – and it was mostly men – managed to break out of their humble origins to go on and have successful, remunerative careers, that number is vanishingly small. Many boasted of being ‘self-made men’, but when you drill down into their backgrounds, they often came from reasonably well-off families who gave them plenty of support in those vital early years. Tim Badger doesn’t have that advantage. His partner, Ben Watson, at least has a loving family. I really like that Westerson has included a black protagonist. If you read historical records, by this time there are a significant number of people from different ethnic origins living in Victorian England, particularly in and around London, though the only time they appear in contemporary fiction is as a villain.
Westerson evokes the period well, even going to the trouble of providing a glossary of terms for those not acquainted with the slang of the times. We get a strong sense of the class divide, as well as the world in which our detectives are working. The craze for all things Egyptian at this time certainly is historically accurate – and mummy-unwrapping parties actually took place. This is a wonderful backdrop for a murder. As Tim and Ben are on the spot as hired security to prevent the expensive Egyptian artefacts being stolen, they end up being right in the middle of this shocking case.
I liked the appearance of Holmes, particularly as his famous ‘method’ proves to have severe limitations. I’ve seen this story described as a cosy mystery – I’m not so sure. While it certainly doesn’t go into lots of gritty, or gratuitous gore, neither does it give a particularly rosy glow to Victorian society. I certainly came away feeling very relieved that I hadn’t been born in this period.
All in all, this is a joy and the only reason why it isn’t a five-star read, is because the actual whodunit isn’t particularly difficult to unravel – I’d decided on the culprit quite early on in the story. And I was right. That said, it isn’t the dealbreaker it might be in a tale peopled with less entertaining characters inhabiting a flatter, less vividly depicted world. Recommended for fans of historical murder mysteries, particularly if you’ve enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and John Watson’s adventures. While I obtained an arc of The Mummy of Mayfair from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10
