Review: The Return of Hester Lynton by Tony Evans

Synopsis: Victorian England's most celebrated lady detective returns in ten new brain-teasing mysteries.With scheming fraudsters, corrupt doctors, devious forgers and terrible murderers afoot, Hester Lynton, and her trustworthy assistant Ivy Jessop, have their work cut out for them. But amidst the dirt and deprivation of 1800s London, our investigative duo will stop at nothing to catch their criminals.

The Return of Hester Lynton is a collection of ten absorbing cosy detective stories, perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Mrs Gladden and the Lady Hardcastle mysteries.

This is a lovely homage to Sherlock Holmes with female detective Heston Lynton and her female "Watson", Ivy Jessop. Follow Hester and Ivy as the tackle such cases as:

• The Case of the Fanshaw Inheritance (competition for an inheritance involving a treasure hunt)
• The Case of the Stolen Leonardo (a stolen master, a locked room, forgery)
• The Case of the Missing Professor (missing formula, traitors)
• The Mystery of the Locked Room (mysterious death, question of family inheritance)
• The Adventures of the Diamond Necklace (missing necklace, scandal, secret organisation)
• The Adventure of the Kidnapped Schoolboy (missing child that is not straight-forward)
• The Puzzle of the Whitby Housemaid (Bram Stoker brings a case involving a mysterious doctor and a scared maid)
• The Case of the Russian Icon (swindled museum, double-cross)
• The Case of the Naked Clergyman (eccentric clergyman and an inheritance at issue)
• The Problem of Oscar Wilde (Oscar seek Hestor's help in recovering stolen letters)

Hester shares many similarities with Holmes: she smokes; makes use of disguises; works with a police inspector; deals with confidential cases; has an erstwhile sidekick and biographer (and narrator); is attended to by a loyal housekeeper; and is a spinster to Holmes' bachelor.

The tales, whilst being conveyed to the reader at a later period, date between 1880s and 1890s in Victorian London. England was still under the reign of Queen Victoria (d.1901), the Boer War was in its infancy (1899–1902), and the scare of the Ripper murders was still fresh in peoples' minds (1888). You can refer to my review of MJ Trow's "Four Thousand Days" for further background on London at this point in time.

Hester actually put me in mid of the lesser know female detective - Maud West.  From Bella Ellis' article on Crimereads: 

"Maud was real-life private detective who was London’s and, I suspect, the UKs only female private detective at start of the twentieth century. Quite a celebrity in her day, with a career spanning more than thirty years, West claimed her work took her all over the globe, from London to Paris, to the U.S and back again. A renowned mistress of disguise she often impersonated men from all walks of life – from sailors to aristocrats." 

A lovely collection of mysteries to while away an afternoon.

Further reading:

- History Extra: Female Detectives

- FishWrap: 3 Amazing Detectives