Saturday, May 26, 2012

The Formula for Murder-Carol McCleary

The Formula for Murder


Carol McCleary

Forge, Jul 17 2012, $24.95

ISBN 9780765328694



In 1890, saddened reporter Nellie Bly arrives in London to bury her mentee cub reporter Hailey McGuire, who reportedly committed suicide. Nellie rejects the notion that Hailey took her own life as she knew the young journalist was euphoric over her profession. Instead, Nellie thinks the story Hailey was working on led to her death. Enhancing her beliefs are someone emptied Hailey’s desk and files, and searched her room, and is threatening Nellie.



Not one to run from a challenge especially a menacing one, Nellie follows clues to an affluent spa in Bath, where owner Dr. Anthony Lacroix claims miraculous rejuvenation with peat moss. Soon after Nellie arrives in Bath, Lacroix vanishes. Nellie receives help from biology teacher H. G. Wells, scandalous Oscar Wilde fleeing his latest sexual peccadillo as he was doing when they previously met (see The Alchemy of Murder) and Arthur Conan Doyle stalking a beast on the moors of Dartmoor. As a mad test tube scientist, beasts, and lunatics chase Nellie and her companions, murders seem everywhere they go



The latest Nellie Bly Victorian investigative thriller (see The Illusion of Murder) is an action-packed tale that once again uses famous persona as key players who also anchor time and place. This fast-paced mystery grips readers from start to finish, but Nellie not only keeps it focused, she brings energy and enthusiasm to the engaging historical.



Harriet Klausner

No comments: