Book Worm: Instruments of Darkness~ Beginning a Murder Mystery Series

I've finished several books since my last post (and maybe I should have been making jewelry rather than reading so much)-- and I'd like to introduce a new favorite of mine and a series I'd like to continue with.

I seem to always pick out Historical Fiction from the library shelves but felt especially in need of a riveting story, so I wandered to the next aisle; Mystery. I hate when I pick up a book and don't realize till I'm half-way through, that it's the third or fourth in a series. Then I feel like I need to back up and read from the beginning (which I never do). In this case I luckily stumbled upon the first in this series of murder mysteries by Imogen Robertson. Instruments of Darkness, was her first novel, and well done!

forget the people on the steps- pretend it's creepy and dark!

Instruments of Darkness opens on a late 18th Century English... neighborhood? Not sure if I'd call it a village or not. The setting is just a neighborhood where the wealthy British live. Not the wealthiest but those of rather good means and social status. They've all got their secrets underneath their pretty facades, and Robertson asks if these elite own the same amount of moral wealth that they do in pounds. Murder abounds.

The story is told from differing viewpoints, time periods, and motives. I enjoy having both female and male storytellers. In the 18th Century it certainly wouldn't have been "cool" for Harriet, a woman living mostly on her own (while Hubby is away at war), to be sneaking around town as an investigator, asking questions and getting involved in other people's business. This is our protagonist, and while at times she uses her status as a wealthy and well respected woman to her advantage in obtaining information, there are also times when she's disapproved of and blockaded against in her quest for the truth. Her motive: justice.

She's aided by another protagonist, one who carries his own secrets and as such, has stayed mostly free of any social involvement with any of his neighbors. He's "that creepy guy that lives next door", an anatomist who dissects things on his office table. However, Harriet sees something of value in him. Each character uses one or more "instruments" of their own secret past to twist, escape, torture, or kill another.

Imogen Robertson knows how to draw a reader in and keep them interested from one chapter to the next with just the right amount of action. I actually gasped out loud at one point-- not expecting Harriet to become endangered by her investigating. I was thoroughly happy with the prose, the complexities of the characters, the sense of the time period in their words and actions, and the ending. I'd recommend this and I was thrilled when I returned it and found there were more titles under her name.
I can't wait to continue with the "Westerman and Crowther Crime Series".