[NOVEL] Lady Darling Inquires After a Killer by Colleen Gleason

Leave Sherlock Holmes alone ahaha

The widowed marchioness of Darling has successfully married off all of her children, and her son’s wife is the new marchioness—making her the dowager, and giving her absolutely no responsibilities. As a woman who was not born into the peerage, but, against the mores of Victorian London society wed Lord Darling in a love match thirty years ago, Lady Darling chafes at the restrictions of the gentility and is looking forward to her “retirement” to the country—at least until the grandchildren come along.

Unfortunately, fate has other plans for her. When an old friend implores her to sponsor her daughter into society, Lady Darling agrees. Not long after she commences with this project, Lady Darling and her charge, Miss Bedwith, attend a dinner party where a man is found dead.

Lady Darling, an aficionado of Sherlock Holmes (and friend of Arthur Conan Doyle) and Wilkie Collins’s work, dives into the investigation simply because she can.

During her investigation, she employs the assistance of her housekeeper and butler—the Josephs, who are also her close friends (another impropriety! being friends with servants!)—as well as her favorite modiste, Monsieur Claude—to help her track down clues to the killer. When the investigation takes her into the dingy streets of Seven Dials, she encounters a mysterious and dangerous man who seems to know an awful lot about her. Maybe too much. Still, even at her so-called advanced age of fifty, Lady Darling finds him interesting and titillating. But can she trust him?

Lady Darling Mysteries. Book 1

I would have edited some parts for sure.

Well, I really wish Arthur Conan Doyle would be left alone, but this author just stuck with the idea of making Lady Darlking into Sherlock Holmes wannabe where she often mentions his name. I could understand the sentiment, I really do, for example in times of something "trending" like the peak of fashion you can see the splurge in popularity of certain things, it's the same as trendy fashion nowadays. I have a basic example, when a manga about basketball like Slam Dunk became popular, there was a rise of basketball being the most popular among Japanese teens as a result (same with other popular manga and sports).

For example, when a certain book became popular it dictated a popular trend when it comes to genre, so you can see more dystopia, romantasy, books about vampires for the next few years.

I mean people could have copied a limp, because someone from a royalty had it and it was considered trendy.

But there is still a limit to how many times you can mention Sherlock in your story. Not to mention one thing is to just mention the fictional character, but the whole fantasy about our FMC being acquainted with ACD, not to mention the hint of Irene being a prototype of one of the characters i beyond the limit for me.

I don't like the use of real people in books. Of course it's harder to create an author for your own universe for reader to care, but others did it splendidly, I have no idea why Gleason decided otherwise.  And this is why I shaved off stars for that. 

I know historical fiction is possible without involving real people to this extent, as I previously reviewed Patrice McDonough who used some real events to her advantage, but did not impose too much on it.

Otherwise Lady Darling was an interesting woman of certain age. With her own perks of course.

She is 50 and her aching hip won't let you forget the fact.

She also fairs quite well for her age, but being of certain age I can relate to some of the things she says.

Though some of it does sound quite modern-thinking.

I'm not sure if author wanted us to remember how Lady Darling was once a travelling girl who crossed the seas and is so daring and saw/experienced a lot or we should see her version that also switches back to marchioness, although eccentric but quite haughty if you ask me, who knows her status and uses it to her advantage, even if it sounds snobbish of her.

By this I mean the fact that she decided to investigate the case, because she wants to and because she can (as if it's a common thing to do). I know some people might be upset because her approach and others act as if it's not something gruesome that happened. But actually not everyone mops around all day, especially people who were not close. This happens a lot more than you think. The only thing that is off-putting for real is how she calls herself intelligent and smart etc. Truly smart people don't do it. But the thing is she has no prior experience of solving cases, it's good this one was rather simple for her. Even if she absolutely excluded the work of Scotland Yard as inadequate (in attempts for it to sound like Sherlock Holmes) and after it was over considered her own work done brilliantly.

Another part is how she had no qualms in basically facing off everyone she suspects of doing it. It's like she interrogates people in public and asks all the questions and waits for the reaction. "Did you do it?" As a person with experience of reading people she might have done it, but again, she has no experience in solving cases. It'd be silly to wait and see whose facade will crack from unexpected questioning. In the end it was the conclusion of both murders that had a natural exclusion to help her solve the case, if it was just a singular case, who knows how long she'd waste on it.

I honestly liked the lively beginning and her eccentric personality, but then Conan Doyle appeared in a picture and she couldn't stop bringing him up. Not to mention she had some not appealing thoughts about other people around her. Even her ward - Priscilla Bedwith. Pris actually was also a bit annoying at the beginning, but then I realized it's a bit like a caricature and not a character with how she was scared of the feelings of her childhood friend and decided she will strive for a man with the highest title, this included her delulu as if she's going to be a sensation. As if she's supposed to be this young delulu girl. She also served as a constant reminder at first how different and shocking Lady Darling is.

The consequent haughtiness and the feeling of superiority and constant reminder "I'm brillian, I'm the smartest" also toned the excitement down. Which otherwise would have been a nice character.

The mystery itself was not that impressive. Maybe because it got lost at the constant mention of Holmes. If you isolate it, it might sound not that bad, but again it was overshadowed by everything else.

RATE: 2,75/5.