Murder in Park Lane by Karen Charlton

Murder in Park Lane by Karen Charlton ISBN-13: 9781503955622 Paperback: 316 pages Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Released: March 26, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
London, 1812. At a fashionable address in leafy Mayfair, a far cry from Detective Stephen Lavender’s usual haunts, a man is found dead in his room. He has been brutally stabbed, but the door is locked from the inside and the weapon is missing.

The deceased is David MacAdam, an Essex businessman with expensive tastes. As Lavender and Constable Ned Woods travel between London and Chelmsford seeking to understand MacAdam’s final hours and unearth the grisly truth, they uncover a tangled web of deceit behind his stylish facade. The unusual circumstances of MacAdam’s death are nothing compared to the shady nature of his life and it seems the house on Park Lane is at the heart of a dark conspiracy.

But when a second body turns up, everything they think they’ve learned is thrown into doubt. Can Lavender and Woods find out who’s behind these shocking murders before more lives are ruined?


My Review:
Murder in Park Lane is a mystery novel set in 1812 in England. It's the fifth 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 detective was clever, and his assistant constable had skills that complemented the detective's. They asked good questions. However, so many people lied to them that the detective had difficulty making any headway for a while. It was a clue based mystery, and the reader can guess what's going on as quickly as a detective.

I cared what happened to the main characters. They were engaging, interesting people and had realistic reactions to events. The vivid historical and setting details made the story feel unique to that time and place yet didn't slow the pacing down.

There was some bad language. There were no sex scenes. A three month old corpse was described in detail, if an accurate description of a nearly skeletal dead body would bother you. 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.