Plague Pits & River Bones by Karen Charlton

Plague Pits & River Bones by Karen Charlton ISBN-13: 9781542048392 Paperback: 343 pages Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Released: Jan. 11, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
London, 1812: Treacherous gangs roam the capital, and not even the Palace of Westminster is safe. When Detective Stephen Lavender is called in to investigate a highway robbery and a cold-blooded murder, both the cases take a dangerous and disturbing personal twist.

And when Lavender’s trusted deputy, Constable Ned Woods, finds a mysterious severed foot washed up on Greenwich Beach, they soon realise that these old bones are more sinister than they first appeared.

With Bow Street Police Office undermanned and in disarray, it will take all of Lavender and Woods’s wit and skill—and some help from Lavender’s spirited wife, Magdalena—to unmask the fiend behind the mayhem, restore peace and justice to the beleaguered city and solve the tragic mystery of the severed foot. But will they do so in time to foil a plot that threatens to plunge the country into chaos?


My Review:
Plague Pits & River Bones is a mystery novel set in May 1812 in London, England. It's the fourth book in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this story did not spoil any previous whodunits.

The vivid historical and setting details made the story feel unique to that time and place yet didn't slow the pacing down. I appreciated that a character got ill after being submerged in filthy river water (which is realistic) rather than emerging from the experience unscathed. I cared what happened to the characters, and they had realistic reactions to events.

This was a clue-based mystery with several matters needing Lavender's attention at the same time. While I wasn't surprised when he uncovered what was going on and who was behind it, I did fully enjoy how the different mysteries unexpectedly touched on each other. I was surprised that Lavender wasn't cautious at the end when someone he didn't trust offered to help him (though his being so likely wouldn't have changed much).

There was a fair amount of bad language. There were no sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.