Blackstone and the Heart of Darkness by Sally Spencer

Genre: Historical Mystery

Setting: England in the Year 1900.

First Sentence: Emma Walsingham had been missing for two days when Giles Yarrow, an agricultural laborer, came across the body.

This novel is the sixth in Sally Spencer's Blackstone series which currently runs to twelve books.

Wow! This book was a real page turner.  I just could not put it down.  There is plenty of action.  The exposition and description moves the plot forward without slowing the story down with too many unnecessary details.  And the final solution was a real surprise.

This novel focuses on the investigations of three of the leading characters in this series.

Inspector Sam Blackstone, of Scotland Yard, is investigating a smuggling ring near the salt mines in a rural English village.  His friend and partner Archie Patterson is investigating a brothel which  illegally procures young girls.  And, Dr. Ellie Carr, a female doctor who specializes in the new science of forensic pathology, is investigating a  series of horrible murders involving the young daughters of well-to-do families.

The story moves back and forth between the three plot lines.  At the climax, the solution, while logical, caught me by surprise.

Reading this novel was great fun.  The characters are interesting and unique.  And the plot was wonderfully tangled.

I know I'll be reading the entire series.

Five stars!