Deadly Curious

Written by Cindy Anstey

Feiwel and Friends

978-1-250252272

304 pp.

Ages 13-18

June 2020

Investigating required a fair amount of questioning, thinking, and rethinking–mental exercises that she found invigorating. But there was a noble purpose to her questions now: solving a crime. What could be more rewarding than assuaging the pain brought on by the premature ending of a life? Yes, Sophia nodded to herself, she had found the perfect way to spend her days. (pg. 99)

Eighteen-year-old Sophia Thompson, first introduced in Cindy Anstey's The Hummingbird Dagger, has decided that, now that her prospects for marriage have dissipated because of family troubles, she will pursue a career as an investigator. Reading "Investigating Murder and Mayhem: A Runner's Journey" with aspirations of becoming the first woman to be appointed to London's police force known as the Bow Street Runners, Sophia responds to a summons from her cousin Daphne Waverley who fears the ineptitude of the local constable looking into the murder of her older brother, Andrew, a year earlier. But a request has also been made for Bow Street to assist the haberdasher-cum-constable Marley so new trainee Mr. Jeremy Fraser, 20, is sent with a driver/assistant Hal Stacks to the town of West Ravenwood.

But with a recent change of law that prohibited hunting on common lands, many locals see Mr. Fraser as an authority figure and are reluctant to assist him in his inquiries. Fortunately, Sophia, who is seen as being a harmless woman, places herself in a position to help the attractive Mr. Fraser. With her irritable Uncle Edward having recovered a knife in the woods, the scene of the crime, Aunt Hazel spending an inordinate amount of time with the Reverend's daughter, Charlotte Dewey, who makes herself quite at home at Allerton Park, and a series of mishaps threatening both Daphne and Sophia, the young woman feels compelled to work with Jeremy to share information and pursue her own inquiries, with her lady's maid Betty in tow. 

In a twisted story, intricate with subplots of poaching, jealousy, murders old and new, and romances suitable and not, Deadly Curious keeps the reader enthralled, never knowing whether a knife merchant or a local constable or even an herbalist might have a role in the multiple murders that take place around West Ravenwood. Though I may have guessed the involvement of one character–my years of reading Agatha Christie and other cozies has given me practice in predicting outcomes–Cindy Anstey has created a multitude of sophisticated characters who all seem to be viable suspects. From a footman and housekeeper to the local surgeon and even Daphne's other brother William, all are complex and multi-dimensional and present as potential threats. Moreover they all react realistically and uniquely and the reader will feel as if they've been dropped into a Jane Austen mystery with charming characters and reprehensible ones, from the landed gentry to merchants and those in service. And the plot will carry them all from the unknown of a whodunit to a satisfying resolution and even a happy ending and new beginnings.

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Though several of the characters in Deadly Curious were introduced in Cindy Anstey's The Hummingbird Dagger (2019), readers can be assured that Deadly Curious is a solid standalone historical YA mystery.  Still I encourage all readers to also read The Hummingbird Dagger for an equally compelling Regency mystery with a hint of romance.

The Hummingbird Dagger

Written by Cindy Anstey

Feiwel and Friends

978-1-250174895

352 pp.

Ages 13-18

2019

The year is 1833 and a young woman is injured in a carriage accident caused by 14-year-olds Walter Ellerby and friend Henry Thompson. Though the men in the carriage are reluctant to accept any help for the young woman, Walter's brother, Lord James Ellerby, 20, demands she be taken to their home and a doctor called. The carriage and its driver and patrons continue on their journey.

But the young woman has no memory about who she is, except for haunting nightmares of a dark room and a dagger with the hilt of a hummingbird.  She asks to be called Beth, the only name she can recall, and becomes a companion to eighteen-year-old Caroline Ellerby. As they attempt to discover who she is, James, Caroline and Beth discover greater mysteries, including that the carriage she'd been on was not the regular carriage between London and Exeter as had been expected and the trunk they'd been given as hers was actually filled with men's clothes. Then someone tries to break into the house, Caroline and Beth are accosted on the road and a man is found dead. As they try to determine who Beth is, a myriad of characters, from the Reverend Cranley's wife, to Henry's mother, sister Sophia and visiting uncle, Gilbert Renfrew, become part of the story, along with those who make claims to be related to her. It soon becomes a game of whom to believe and who should not be trusted, as the mystery of Beth’s identity is tied with the danger that someone means to harm her. But, with Beth's memories seeping back ever so slowly, the question is whether the young people will discover her story before the nightmares related to that hummingbird dagger become her reality.

Blended with a budding romance or two, some shenanigans by Walter and Henry that actually unearth more clues, red herrings peppering the narrative, and several sting operations that are either fruitless or go awry, The Hummingbird Dagger is a historical mystery at its finest. For some readers, the historical time will be the hook, as it’s set in Regency Britain, a time when a folly is a structure, when a law against privateering is being discussed in the House of Lords, and young ladies require chaperones. But it’s the mystery that compelled me to read on. Cindy Anstey layers suspicion with hope and the nefarious with the respectable and creates a story of such depth that the villains are not easily identified and their motivations shrouded. She carries that dangerous riddle of Beth's identity flawlessly, never playing up the amnesia as crutch for the story, always drawing the reader along with each revelation. It's like putting a puzzle together with James, Caroline, Beth and Walter all finding pieces and hoping they'll fall together. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Still Cindy Anstey resolves Beth's story with a happy enough ending that does not feel contrived or predictable.

For a thrilling historical mystery, with the distinct atmosphere of Regency England and a touch of romance, Cindy Anstey's The Hummingbird Dagger delivers.

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Next I review Deadly Curious, a legacy sequel of The Hummingbird Dagger but also a strong standalone mystery that focuses on Sophia Thompson as one of the protagonists. Look for it next here on CanLit for LittleCanadians.