Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar by Kate Saunders

Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar by Kate Saunders ISBN-13: 9781632868398 Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Released: Dec. 3, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In 1851, private detective Laetitia Rodd gets an urgent request for her services. Jacob Welland is a reclusive, rich gentleman dying of consumption, and he wants Mrs. Rodd to find his brother, who has been missing for fifteen years.

Joshua Welland was a scholar at Oxford, brilliant, eccentric, and desperately poor when he disappeared from the university. Friends claim to have seen him since, in gypsy camps and wandering around the countryside. Mrs. Rodd travels to Oxford and begins to search for the wandering scholar. But as she investigates, Mrs. Rodd discovers something dark-and extremely dangerous-lurking in the beautiful English countryside.


My Review:
Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar is a mystery set in 1851 in England. This is the second book in the series, but it works as a stand alone. Laetitia seemed rather dense in this book. She believed people who were lying to her and otherwise assumed people were as good as she wanted them to be. She muddled around trying to find a person who was hiding from danger, totally missing why he didn't trust her (though I easily guessed). I was suspicious of whodunit early on, but she didn't seem to realize the significance of some of the things she learned. In the end, it was the Detective that figured out whodunit, though Laetitia realized he was right when he pointed it out. I don't know that I minded her denseness except that it didn't seem true when people kept saying she was a good detective.

Laetitia was well-meaning and had some progressive views, but she generally reflected the current (1850s England) culture. Historical details were woven into the story, creating a distinct sense of time and place without slowing the pacing. I appreciate that the author did enough research to get those historical details accurate. There were no sex scenes. There was a few uses of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting historical mystery, but I liked the first book better.


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.