A Broken Vessel

by Kate Ross

Overview

Julian Kestrel, the dandy detective of Regency London, is most decidedly a man of the world and, through his valet, Dipper, reformed Cockney pickpocket, is not without ties to the underworld. One such connection is Dipper's sister Sally, a prostitute who accidentally happens across the possibility of murder while picking her clients' pockets. Since Sally is not quite in the position to go to the police with her knowledge, she and Julian must chase the clues all through London, from glittery parlors to the dank halls of a home for fallen women.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934609712
Publisher:	Felony & Mayhem Press
Publication date:	04/16/2011
Series:	Julian Kestrel , #2
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	508,781
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

Editorial Reviews

In this atmospheric and gritty mystery set in 1820's London, dandy Julian Kestrel (first encountered in Cut to the Quick ) searches out the truth about a supposed suicide. Sally Stokes, a ``game girl,'' or prostitute--and the sister of Julian's valet--likes to lift handkerchiefs from her clients. Among the three she collects in one night's work, she finds a letter from an obviously upper-class young woman despairing over her fate in an establishment for fallen women. Intrigued by the mystery, Julian and Sally set out to determine her identity. Sally insinuates herself into the Reclamation Society, where she learns that one of the inmates is a recent suicide, while Julian attempts to trace the owners of the handkerchiefs. The closets of these gentlemen, however, harbor assorted skeletons, and Julian and Sally's investigations draw them ever deeper into danger. Ross briskly explores the sordid underbelly of the Regency period with sharply etched characters, authentic slang and a smartly intricate plot sweetened by a fetching and unusual love story. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Ross's second Julian Kestrel mystery ( Cut to the Quick, LJ 2/1/93) teams the Regency buck cum amateur detective with London prostitute Sally to search for the murderer of a woman in a refuge for ``fallen woman.'' The trail starts with an anonymous letter leading to three ``flats'' (johns); the trails converge and diverge before tying up neatly at the end. While readers may guess the dead woman's identity, and even the killer's, before the book's end, the witty repartee, unusual protagonists, and accurately rendered picture of early 19th-century London manners and morals should engage mystery readers. Ross is a writer to follow--and collect.

Library Journal

YA-Ross's second mystery about Julian Kestrel, the Regency dandy, teams him with Sally Stokes, a cockney prostitute who helps him solve a clever and devilish murder. One night, as is her custom, Sally steals a handkerchief from each of her three clients. In one, she finds a letter from a woman being held against her will and begging for help. A concerned and frightened Sally runs into her brother, a reformed pickpocket and Kestrel's valet. Soon she and Kestrel are matching wits to find the owner of the handkerchief and locate the desperate woman. Through dogged legwork they locate the three men, each from a different strata of society but each of whom has something serious to hide relating to a young heiress, the Reclamation Society, and the seamy underground life of London's Haymarket District. The clues come thick and fast in this action-packed mystery. Ross provides a good look at the beginnings of the London police force as well as the working of the English courts and the role of magistrates in this authentic view of early 19th-century social life.- Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School Library, Upper Marlboro, MD

School Library Journal