The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden

Laetitia Rodd is a private detective in London in the 1800s. A long-standing neighbour of hers, Mr Tully, once saved a man called Thomas Transome from a fire in the theatre where they both worked. Tully was injured in the fire and so had to retire. Transome, meanwhile, went on to become one of the foremost theatre owner/directors in London. His greatest rival is James Betterton, who owns and runs a slightly better class of theatre nearby.

Transome wants to leave his wife and wants to set up house with his beautiful leading actress, Constance Noonan. His three daughters disagree about it all, but Laetitia Rodd is asked to help Transome’s wife to secure an appropriate settlement. The three daughters are all aspiring actors of differing abilities, and one of them is married to Betterton’s son. So, there is already a complicated family dynamic. Then a charred body is discovered in the original fire-damaged theatre. Identification is difficult and no one knows how it got there. Inevitably, Laetitia manages to get involved with the police investigation.

The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden has a complicated plot that seems to come to an end two-thirds of the way through the book. However, all is not what it seems, and the mystery is sustained with plenty of pace right until the final page. Much of the prose is in the form of dialogue between the various characters. Each and every conversation during the investigation is faithfully reported, including small amounts of description to set the scenes. Most of these are written in Laetitia’s voice and she is a keen observer. These descriptions paint a remarkably detailed picture of everyday life in the 1800s: the drawing room of Pericles Cottage; Mrs Rudd’s own kitchen; reference to a back parlour; a bedroom with an open fire of coals; the use of beef-tea for invalids; carriages, omnibuses, gaslights; a house in Holloway with a pretty garden in an area that until recently had contained many orchards.

There are also many descriptions of back-stage life in the various theatres of the time. And descriptions too of the less salubrious areas of the city: areas such as Limehouse with its population of international sailors and all the paraphernalia of ocean-going steamers; and the area around Charing Cross with its dingy public houses on the muddy riverbank, and smelly ramshackle streets as well as areas such as Brixton, then full of market gardens and strawberry fields.

Such descriptions, in addition to the many references to the ways in which people behaved towards each other in those times, are woven seamlessly into the story and provide a fascinating historical backdrop, adding to the feeling of authenticity. The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden is a surprising gem with an absorbing plot, fascinating descriptions, and a very readable style.