The Tumbling Girl - Bridget Walsh

Written by Bridget Walsh
Read by Jasmine Blackborow
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Series: Variety Palace Mysteries, Book 1
Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
Release date: 05-23-23

A wry, warm and proper rib-tickling slice of dirty Victorian gothic’ Julia Crouch
1876, Victorian London. Minnie Ward, a feisty scriptwriter for the Variety Palace Music Hall, is devastated when her best friend is found brutally murdered. She enlists the help of private detective Albert Easterbrook to help her find justice.

Together they navigate London, from its high-class clubs to its murky underbelly. But as the bodies pile up, they must rely on one another if they’re going to track down the killer – and make it out alive . . .

“This series launch featuring an unlikely pair of investigators in 1876 London. Minnie Ward writes sketches and songs for a music hall. She becomes a sleuth after her closest friend, actor Rose Watkins, is found murdered. Lacking confidence that Rose’s killing will get the official attention it merits, Minnie and Watkins’s grieving mother, Ida, seek out Albert Easterbrook, a private investigator and retired prizefighter. His inquiry, which Watkins takes an active role in, coincides with the police’s search for the so-called Hairpin Killer (named for his choice of murder weapon), who has been claiming victims on and off for a decade. Another murder, that of an aspiring politician, thickens the plot. Walsh’s diligent research pays off in spades here, and her rich and nuanced portrayal of the period will leave readers feeling like they’re on the soggy streets of London. Imogen Robertson readers will be eager for a sequel to this un-put-downable mystery.”—PW