Review: Accomplished In Detection is an entertaining historical mystery
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2012
Accomplished In DetectionAuthor: Dara EnglandGenre: Historical MysteryRating: 3.5 StarsSummary:A dinner party at a Victorian country estate ends in a mysterious murder. Unfortunately for the murderer, one of the guests is Mariah Featherstone, a young woman with an interest and talent for solving such mysteries. But when she starts poking around, Mariah begins to remember why sleuthing is not the casual hobby of choice for most young Victorian women.Review:Accomplished In Detection is the second in a series of loosely connected Victorian mystery novellas. Although there is some slight character cross-over from the first in the series, no knowledge is required of the first to enjoy this story.The core of this novella is a perfectly serviceable murder mystery. A curate is murdered and the protagonist, Mariah, is sure that the accused, a man with whom she has some acquaintance, is innocent. A common enough mystery scenario, but this story is set in the Victorian era with a female protagonist. A lack of decent forensics technology and the resistance of the male authorities make for a less than straight-forward investigation on Mariah's part. That being said, several aspects of the mystery weren't particularly difficult to solve or see through, but there were still some interesting surprises, and a sort of additional layer of mystery not related to the murder that was intriguing. Though, I would have liked to have seen a bit more of development of some of these aspects.Given the mystery isn't as substantial as it could be, it'd help if perhaps the characters were rendered with a bit more depth. The lead is likable and interesting enough, and a mysterious side character who helps her out is engaging as wel, but with the relatively brief length of the novella, the characters were perhaps not as developed as much as they could be, and just as we begin to get to know and really settle in with them, the story is over. The man accused of the crime and the victim, in addition, just don't have enough presence in the story to significantly add to the tension of the piece.The setting was well-utilized. Historical mystery, especially with non-standard protagonists, offers its own set off challenges, and the author did a good job of presenting us with a plausible mystery heroine in the context of the Victorian era. The practical realities that went with the sexism of the period were not glossed either.Overall, I liked Accomplished In Detection, but just would have preferred perhaps a slightly longer work so I had more time to appreciate the characters, the setting, and the mystery. Still,  this was a fun little novella that fans of cozy and historical mystery will likely enjoy.3.5 StarsNote: A Free Review copy was provided by the author.