The Grenadillo Box: A Novel
*Starred Review* This debut novel from a former employee of Sotheby's London hits all the right history-mystery notes. Gleeson blends historical detail with riveting crime drama without committing the twin sins of this genre: going overboard on period detail or on procedure. Her success may be related to her choice of hero. Nathanial Hopson is an apprentice to the famed cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale. This position, which often involves executing his master's designs in the homes of the wealthy and titled, allows Hopson access to all kinds of goings-on, both upstairs and downstairs. This device also allows Gleeson to give readers insights into both eighteenth-century social tensions and the wonders of antique furniture. The mystery starts with Hopson, assigned to make a Chippendale bookcase at the estate of Lord Montfort, discovering Montfort's dead body in the library, his hand clutching an elaborately carved box fashioned from grenadillo wood, his neck covered with leeches. The murder of the designer of the box, an apprentice friend of Hopson's, follows. The second murder convinces Hopson that his own life may be in danger, prompting him to sail into a full-scale investigation of both crimes. Suspects abound in the murder of Lord Montfort--an abusive husband, cruel father, and a man beset by gaming debts--but the death of the apprentice poses more of a mystery, one that can only be solved by Hopson discovering what force placed the box of the title in the murdered lord's hand. Absolutely absorbing.Connie FletcherCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved