Christopher Huang, A
Gentleman’s Murder
Inkshares, Inc. 2018
© Christopher Huang 2018
ISBN 978-1-942645-95-5
Inkshares, Inc. 2018
© Christopher Huang 2018
ISBN 978-1-942645-95-5
In the aftermath of the Great War (not yet known as World
War I), Eric Peterkin finds himself drawn into investigating the murder of Albert
Benson. Unlike the other members of the
Britannica Club (of which one of Eric’s forbears was a founder), Benson had not
served in the military; a conscientious objector, he had served as a
stretcher-bearer in the war (and his election to membership was somewhat
controversial). Benson died after being more-or-less
talked into a wager with (ex-Captain) Mortimer Wolfe—Wolfe claimed he could
break into any of the safe deposit boxes that were available to the club
members, and undertook to break into Benson’s.
Eric is also something of an outsider in the Britannica, as
his father had married a Chinese woman; his family background causes some
(including some members of the Britannica) to regard him as somewhat less than
English. And he has reason to think that
the detective (Parker) in charge of the murder investigation may be concealing
evidence.
Not surprisingly, the motive for Benson’s murder will be
found in the past, 6 years before (in 1918), at what was a convalescent
hospital for casualties of the war, and in the disappearance (and death) of
Emily Wang (also half-English and half-Chinese, and a qualified nurse). Emily was a cousin of the wife of the current
president of the Britannica, and her death actually is discovered during the
investigation of Benson’s murder.
The narrative becomes quite complex, and whatever official
investigation is going on gets a little lost; we are focused on Eric’s attempts
(ultimately successful) to find the truth.
It’s a quest that culminated in gathering of all the people involved, in
one way or another—a classic gathering that would not be out of place in an
Agatha Christie mystery. And this scene
is very well done.
All the characters had their points of interest (although I
never quite figured out what function (other than being a sort-of-Watson) Eric’s
friend Avery Ferrett actually played. (He’s
the least well-developed character in the book.)
Huang has obviously done his research; based on my knowledge
of the Great War and its aftermath and of the conditions in London after the
war. The setting, the still powerful
consequences of the war, and the London fog, are all vividly conveyed. I did find a couple of things a bit difficult
to accept—Eric’s last name being the one that nagged at me most, the other a
scene at the Britannica after the mystery has been solved. But overall the story works, the characters
work, the setting works. I do hope that
there is more to follow.
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