Review of Jill Paterson’s Rose Scented Murder…
(Jill Paterson, Rose Scented Murder, J. Henderson, 2019)
I read novels from all over the world, and almost any book involving a DCI or DS attracts my attention. And Ms. Paterson, an Australian author, has a whole series of them!
In this novel, DCI Alistair Fitzjohn and DS Martin Betts set out to solve another crime, this time the murder of a famous Australian actor. The crime occurs just after the last play in a famous old theater that will be torn down. The memoir of the victim plays a big role. (As an aside that’s a wee bit curious, at the time I purchased this book, I was already well into a piece of short fiction involving my detectives Chen and Castilblanco with a famous actor as victim. I’m far enough along that it might turn into a novella, not a novel, though. My detectives work in NYC; there are many more theaters there.)
A bit more taut and better written than number seven in the series, this did a nice job of satisfying my minimum quarterly dose of a British-style mystery (the “local color” here is Australian, of course). I put most books containing a DCI in this category (Louise Penny’s and Ian Rankin’s provide other examples that don’t occur in Britain), and Fitzjohn is one of the most interesting DCIs. There are nice twists throughout the book, and there’s a wee bit of surprising news regarding Inspector Fitzjohn.
I have been following this series. It’s a good example of how books in a series can stand alone relative to others in the series (the reader can jump in anywhere), avoiding cliffhangers and soap-operatic episodes that drive readers away (including me). At the same time, readers who follow the series can watch the characters change as the novels proceed along a timeline that follows their careers. Ms. Paterson has done well in both regards.
***
Comments are always welcome!
Rembrandt’s Angel. Esther Brookstone, of London’s Scotland Yard, is also a DCI, but she’s not modeled after any of the ones mentioned above. She’s more like a younger version of Dame Agatha’s Miss Marple. How far would you go to find a painting stolen by Nazis in World War Two? Esther, of the Art and Antiques Division, becomes obsessed with the idea, and paramour and Interpol agent Bastiann van Coevorden (he even looks like Hercule Poirot, rather David Suchet, the actor who portrayed him so often) attempts to focus the investigation and keep her out of trouble. Together they discover the painting plays a role in an insidious conspiracy that threatens Great Britain and the world. Available on Amazon in ebook and print format, on Smashwords and its affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, Walton, etc) in ebook format, and in print at your favorite bookstore (if they don’t have it, ask for it). A sequel, Son of Thunder, will be published by Penmore Press—coming soon!
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
