Mystery Book Reviews
Book Review: Dread Murder by Gwendoline Butler
By Angela Youngman Jul 26, 2006, 20:35 GMT
Set in Georgian England, Major Mearns is an ex soldier living off the Kings bounty in Windsor Castle. He is also a Watcher for the Government, keeping tabs on the Royal Families activities. Receiving a delivery of two human legs, Mearn sets out to investigate. The legs are quickly followed by a head resulting Mearn identifying the body as an soldier he once knew.
Who has murdered him and where is the rest of the body? What is the link with the local theatre? Helped and hindered by his colleague Sergeant Denny and a runaway boy called Charlie, Mearns steadily works his way through the growing maze of deaths.
An undemanding read which moves along steadily. Certainly inventive, it throws up interesting sidelines on Georgian life including its corruption. Characterisation is fair, with Major Mearns dominating everything.
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PeterAug 23rd, 2007 - 09:57:04
I've just found your comment a few hours after I found Gwendoline Butler. I read her short story 'Bloody Windsor' today. It has the same Georgian setting and at least one of the same protagonists as Dread Murder, and I enjoyed its digs at King George. I especially enjoyed Butler's solution to a problem that has always prevented me from enjoying historical crime fiction. You can find my comment here, if you;re itnerested: h t t p://detectivesbeyondborders(DOT)blogspot(DOT)com/2007/08/gwendoline-butler- or-calling-all-fans(DOT)html
Thanks.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
'Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home'
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