Review: A Necessary Murder by MJ Tjia

Loved the first in the series - She Be Damned - and this second outing is a continuation of the story of Victorian England courtesan, Heloise Chancery.

Victorian England was a hotbed of crime and unsolved murders, with the influx of peoples from exotic locations as the Empire spread its grubby hands in the name of commerce and trade. A perfect backdrop for a thrilling story.

In this story, a link to the past rears its ugly head, resulting in a series of gruesome murders - all of which has the seemingly unflappable Amah Li Leen in a proverbial flap! What in Amah's past has come back to haunt her?

Yet, what I was immediately struck by when embarking on this story, was the similarity with the The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective .

I will let the reader decide.

Review - She Be Damned by MJ Tjia

London 1863 - prostitutes are being murdered and disemboweled.

From humble beginnings to the comfortable life of a courtesan, Heloise Chancy dabbles in the world of private investigation. And when she is called upon to step back into her old world to investigate a series of brutal murders and the disappearance of a missing girl, Heloise must use her charm and wit to solve the mystery.

The story rattles along briskly from its confronting opening scenes to its climatic conclusion as the reader is drawn into Heloise's world. No sooner is one part of the mystery is solved than yet one more remains unresolved.

The seething underbelly of Victorian London comes alive as Heloise walks the dimly lit streets and alleyways to seek answers, often putting herself in harms way, but managing to achieve more than past investigations, despite the obvious chauvinistic attitudes of those seeking her assistance - "What on earth do you think a little dollymop like her can achieve?"

The story is peppered with intriguing characters from the mysterious maidservant Amah Li Leen, brothel keeper Madame Silvestre, the mysterious Mr Priestly, and local street urchin.  The novel gives a strange foreboding of what was yet to come for the street-walkers of Victorian London.

It will be interesting to read the follow up to see how the characters are further developed and in what capacity Heloise will next be employed to investigate.

read more here

@ Victorian Crime & Punishment

@ The History Press - Victorian Crime

@ Murder By Gaslight