Published by The Mystery Press,
2 March 2017.
ISBN: 978-0-7509-6994-9
2 March 2017.
ISBN: 978-0-7509-6994-9
It is 1882 and, in the past two years, Frances Doughty’s private enquiry work has become increasingly successful and her detection skills and those of her assistant, Sarah, have sharpened and their contacts have increased. After her last extremely dangerous case, Frances has decided to abandon the detection of serious crimes and make her living tracking down missing people and pets and investigating and drawing up family genealogies. When Mr Fiske requests her to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the wealthy philanthropist Launcelot Dobree from a locked room during a meeting of the Bayswater Literati Freemasons’ Lodge, Frances agrees. She tells herself that the missing man is sure to turn up unharmed, so this is not a dangerous crime, and she wishes to oblige Mr Fiske, a good friend. However, Frances’ main reason for agreeing is that Launcelot Dobree’s family has a connection with her own and she needs to follow this through to explore her own heritage.
The investigation into Dobree’s disappearance
soon takes a dark turn and Frances knows that she is moving back into a world
of danger and violence but, for personal reasons, she is determined to carry
on, even though it is clear that innocent witnesses may have been killed, let
alone a detective who is drawing too near to the truth. Frances’ work leads her
close to knowledge of the Freemasons’ secret ceremonies. It also causes her to
fall foul of Inspector Payne, a dour police officer who suspects Frances of
involvement in the crimes that they are both investigating. Soon Frances’ worst
fears are justified, and her life is in danger from the criminals she is
pursuing.
A True and Faithful Brother is the
seventh in the series featuring Frances Doughty. It is a fascinating story with
numerous twists in the multi-layered plot and skilfully laid clues. The
characters are all well portrayed and Frances is a very likeable heroine. As
always, Linda Stratmann’s research is immaculate and the world she portrays is
totally believable. A True and Faithful
Brother is an engrossing read and one that I would thoroughly recommend.
------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
Linda Stratmann was born in the city of Leicester on 4 April 1948. Linda
attended Medway Street Infants and Junior School, in the days of the eleven
plus, and from there went to Wyggeston Girls Grammar School. Her earliest
ambition was to be an astronomer, and she read and wrote a great deal of
science fiction. She also read biology, zoology and medicine, and seriously
considered a medical career. But by her teens, she had developed an absorbing
and life-long interest in true crime, probably taking after her mother who
loved to read about famous trials. Linda
I took her A levels and went to Newcastle University in 1971, graduating with
first class honours in psychology three years later. She then joined the civil
service, and trained to be an Inspector of Taxes. In 1987, unable to resist the pull of London she
moved there, married her second husband, Gary in 1993. In 2001 she left the
civil service, and started a new career as a freelance writer and sub-editor,
and in 2002 was commissioned to write her first published book on the history
of Chloroform.
Carol Westron is a successful short story writer and a Creative Writing teacher. She is the moderator for the cosy/historical
crime panel, The Deadly Dames. Her crime
novels are set both in contemporary and Victorian times. The Terminal Velocity of Cats, the
first in her Scene of Crimes novels, was published July 2013. Her latest book Strangers and Angels
published 28 November 2017 is set in Victorian England. Also published in 2017 is her fourth novel in her scene of Crimes Series Karma
and the Singing Frogs.
To to read a review of Karma
and the Singing Frogs, click on the title
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