The Connicle Curse
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From the author of The Bellingham Bloodbath, a Victorian London private detective investigates a potentially Voodoo-related murder.
When wealthy Edmond Connicle suddenly disappears, his distraught wife enlists the services of master sleuth Colin Pendragon and his loyal partner, Ethan Pruitt. Already on the case, however, is Scotland Yard’s Inspector Varcoe. He suspects the Connicles’ West African scullery maid of doing in her employer, especially when a badly burned body is discovered on the estate grounds with a sack of Voodoo fetishes buried beneath it.
But all is not as it seems, and as more bodies are found, the pressure mounts on Varcoe, forcing him to forge an uneasy alliance with his nemesis, Pendragon. At the same time, Mrs. Connicle’s fragile mental state appears increasingly more precarious. Could madness, not black magic, be at the root of these murders? To untangle the twisted truth, Pendragon and Pruitt must penetrate the hidden lives of the elite and expose the malevolent machinations of a ruthless killer . . .
“I found the book an interesting blend of mystery and English history. . . . The action is solidly paced throughout, providing for an exciting and satisfying climax. This is a fine mystery series, and I definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy a good mystery.” —Historical Novel Society
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of Harris s unsatisfying third late-Victorian mystery (after 2014 s The Bellingham Bloodbath), Annabelle Connicle hires Colin Pendragon, a successful London private detective, and Ethan Pruitt, Colin s professional and romantic partner, to ascertain the fate of her missing husband, Edmond. The worried wife also calls in Scotland Yard after finding a great deal of blood in a gardener s shed at their West Hampton home. The police soon discover Edmond s charred corpse in a blackened depression in a nearby road, identified by a ring that matches what his wife described. A voodoo fetish lies beneath the body. The relationship between Colin and Ethan is underdeveloped, and Colin, who delights in showing up his rivals on the force, misses no opportunity to denigrate them, to the point where he comes across as obnoxious rather than self-assured. The solution depends too much on chance.
