By Paul Carrier
In this newly published sequel to The Truth of All Things, Deputy Marshal Archie Lean of the Portland, Maine, police is reunited with private investigator Perceval Grey in 1893 as they try to solve the murder of small-time crook Frank Cosgrove, who was gunned down while en route to deliver a stolen, mysteriously marked stone.
The case quickly takes on bizarre overtones when someone digs up Cosgrove’s corpse, transports it to an abandoned building in Portland, sets portions of the body on fire and writes “Hell Awaits” on a door, with a drawing of a devilish face.
When the investigation prompts Lean and Grey to search out Chester Sears, Cosgrove’s underworld pal, the lead takes them to Boston. There, Sears falls to his death from a roof after Grey catches him ripping pages from an obscure library book about supposed Viking settlements in New England.
All of which should be baffling enough to keep any detective running in circles for a while, but Grey, who is part Abenaki Indian, has to divide his time between this case and his search for Madeline Webster, the missing granddaughter of deceased Portland businessman Horace Webster. Is the young woman’s disappearance tied to the theft of a strange “thunderstone” that the Webster family has long treasured . . . the same exotic heirloom that Cosgrove was carrying at the time of his death?
The stolen stone is at the heart of the novel because of its obscure history, baffling symbols and unexplained significance. Is it a mystical source of power? A coded guide to hidden treasure? A hoax created by a long-dead member of the Webster family? An ancient artifact that rightfully belongs to the Abenaki Indians? Or something else entirely?
A word to the wise: don’t grab A Study in Revenge unless you’re a real history buff. Not only is this mystery set in the late 19th century, but author Kieran Shields takes occasional detours down alleys filled with references to alchemy, the occult, the Rosicrucians and the so-called philosopher’s stone.
That’s in addition to tidbits about the real or fanciful North American travels of the Vikings, the legendary city of Norumbega, Portland’s fate during the American Revolution and a battle that occurred off the coast of Maine during the War of 1812.
Still, the reader who patiently negotiates these byways is rewarded once the complex plot resumes its normally brisk pace.
In an essay that appeared on readitforward.com, Shields explained that he decided to write a sequel to The Truth of All Things because he “wasn’t ready to part company” with the characters he introduced in that book.
“Every book is a separate little journey that we take because we want to see where it leads. But alongside that desire to discover something new is a competing force, the pull of the familiar, that urge to search for a familiar face in a crowd, even when you’re in a strange new place. As intriguing as it is to start down a new road, it can feel all the richer for knowing that you’ll see old friends along the way.”
The case quickly takes on bizarre overtones when someone digs up Cosgrove’s corpse, transports it to an abandoned building in Portland, sets portions of the body on fire and writes “Hell Awaits” on a door, with a drawing of a devilish face.
When the investigation prompts Lean and Grey to search out Chester Sears, Cosgrove’s underworld pal, the lead takes them to Boston. There, Sears falls to his death from a roof after Grey catches him ripping pages from an obscure library book about supposed Viking settlements in New England.
All of which should be baffling enough to keep any detective running in circles for a while, but Grey, who is part Abenaki Indian, has to divide his time between this case and his search for Madeline Webster, the missing granddaughter of deceased Portland businessman Horace Webster. Is the young woman’s disappearance tied to the theft of a strange “thunderstone” that the Webster family has long treasured . . . the same exotic heirloom that Cosgrove was carrying at the time of his death?
The stolen stone is at the heart of the novel because of its obscure history, baffling symbols and unexplained significance. Is it a mystical source of power? A coded guide to hidden treasure? A hoax created by a long-dead member of the Webster family? An ancient artifact that rightfully belongs to the Abenaki Indians? Or something else entirely?
A word to the wise: don’t grab A Study in Revenge unless you’re a real history buff. Not only is this mystery set in the late 19th century, but author Kieran Shields takes occasional detours down alleys filled with references to alchemy, the occult, the Rosicrucians and the so-called philosopher’s stone.
That’s in addition to tidbits about the real or fanciful North American travels of the Vikings, the legendary city of Norumbega, Portland’s fate during the American Revolution and a battle that occurred off the coast of Maine during the War of 1812.
Still, the reader who patiently negotiates these byways is rewarded once the complex plot resumes its normally brisk pace.
In an essay that appeared on readitforward.com, Shields explained that he decided to write a sequel to The Truth of All Things because he “wasn’t ready to part company” with the characters he introduced in that book.
“Every book is a separate little journey that we take because we want to see where it leads. But alongside that desire to discover something new is a competing force, the pull of the familiar, that urge to search for a familiar face in a crowd, even when you’re in a strange new place. As intriguing as it is to start down a new road, it can feel all the richer for knowing that you’ll see old friends along the way.”
The Watson-like Lean and the Sherlockian Grey are well-drawn characters. Grey, in particular, has more than his share of adventures involving escapades of both the life-threatening and romantic varieties. Shields does a good job of keeping the reader guessing about the baffling thunderstone, Cosgrove’s murder and Madeline Webster’s disappearance, until he finally pulls the strands together.
A Study in Revenge can be read as a stand-alone, but with recurring characters and periodic references to story elements from the earlier novel, readers will find this one more enjoyable if they first read The Truth of All Things. The latest novel’s closing pages make it all but certain that a third book is in the offing, so you might as well start at the beginning.
