By Liz Soares
The German duchy states of the late 18th century are unfamiliar territory for this literary traveler. With English sleuths Harriet Westerman and Gabriel Crowther as my guides, however, I enjoyed a suspenseful tour of one corner of the Holy Roman Empire that was punctuated by murder, mayhem, politics and, of course, court intrigue.
This is the fourth book in the Westerman/Crowther series, but the first for me. Mrs. Westerman is a widow with two children who has been left in comfortable circumstances. She has the knack, common to so many amateur detectives, for attracting crime to her doorstep. Crowther is an anatomist; a nobleman who has renounced his title.
All is well in the neighborhood of Sussex that Westerman and Crowther call home. Until, that is, a message arrives from abroad. Daniel Clode, Harriet’s brother-in-law, has been arrested for murder in the Duchy of Maulberg. He’s there as a representative of the Earl of Sussex, in search of restitution for bad debts. His wife, Rachel, Harriet’s sister, is with him.
Westerman and Crowther set out for Germany immediately. They are accompanied by Owen Graves, guardian of the young Earl of Sussex, and Michaels, the local pub landlord who happens to be fluent in the duchy dialect. To their immense relief, Clode has not been executed by the time they arrive.
The case is strange from the start. Clode is accused of murdering a noblewoman, but he has no recollection of the crime. In fact, he’s rambling like a madman. And although Lady Martesen was stabbed, it turns out she actually died of drowning.
More murders follow, and the detectives pursue a twisted trail that involves Freemasons, an idealistic political group, alchemists, psychics and builders of automata--early robot-like figures that could be designed to dance and write letters.
The scenes shift from town to court to jail to countryside and back again. The rich cast of characters includes an insouciant young spy, Jacob Pegel; a wily castrato, Manzerotti; a stolid district officer, Herr von Krall; and, of course, the Duke of Maulberg himself, Ludwig Christoph.
Harriet and Crowther sift through the bewildering evidence while Michaels uses his linguistic skills to track down a mysterious fortune teller. There are suspects aplenty, and the detectives race against the clock to find the murderer. The duke is getting married--and the bodies are piling up.
This is a most satisfying read, made even more so by the author’s careful attention to historical detail. Castrati and automata in the same book could seem like a stretch, but here, it works.
