Campbell and MacPherson Historical Mysteries #1
by Clare Jayne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A nice cozy mystery, suitable for young adults.
I only rate it 3 stars because I expected it to be more engaging and it would have been very interesting if the author had made it just a little longer by going deeper into the themes she had included.
__THE PLOT __ Edinburgh at the end of the 18th century.
Two young people, a boy and a girl who have just met, find themselves investigating the mystery of an emerald necklace stolen from a friend of her aunt's.
Obviously neither of them has experience in this type of thing and what starts out almost like a game turns into something much more serious when they learn of a murder as a result of another reprehensible act.
__ CHARACTERS __ I liked the two characters and it would have been easy to become fond of them if the author had developed in a deeper way their emotions and their inexperienced approach to life and society of the time with all the ensuing difficulties (mentioned here, but not sufficiently developed to make the book impressive).
She is a wealthy orphan who rejects the idea of marriage due to her parents' bad example. Added to this is the fact that at the time, as until the beginning of the 20th century, a man by marrying a woman became her master and could dispose of the woman and her goods as he wanted, also having every right to beat her if deemed it appropriate (interesting thought to reflect on, since today women still suffer a lot of abuse even in the most developed countries).
Ishbel therefore prefers to take refuge in books and at university (where at the time women could only attend lectures) despite this excluding her from being willingly accepted by the rich and aristocratic society.
Ewan lives a type of life opposite to hers, he frequents the social life with his friends and yet his good character can be glimpsed.
He is an affable boy with everyone, who does not feel uncomfortable with the less well-off, whom he treats in a friendly manner, including his valet and the rest of the staff of his house.
Another virtue of Ewan's is that he does not misjudge Ishbel for her interests which are so different from the demands of society at the time, but rather wins her affection by being sincerely interested in what she likes and by attending the lectures together with her, despite the contrary opinion of his best friends (another important point on which young adults can reflect and learn: there is not only physical attraction, but a sincere sharing of interests and the importance of following one's own ideas and desires without being influenced by the judgments of those around us, both society and relatives or friends).
___ THE HISTORICAL PART ___ as I have already said, everything could have been developed in more depth and a nice interesting novel could have come out of it, in any case, as a light read, I also found an interesting idea in the historical part.
---> The story begins with Ishbel and Ewan who for personal reasons participate in the trial of a robber called William Brodie, a character who actually existed and also known as Deacon Brodie, because he was named Deacon in 1781, i.e. leader of the trade, in Edinburgh.
The interesting part is that this character went down in history because of his double personality and double life: a wealthy business leader in Edinburgh by day and a thief by night with 2 lovers and 5 children that no one knew anything about.
---> It was precisely this character, tried and hanged in Edinburgh in 1788, who inspired the well-known writer Robert Louis Stevenson to write the novel "The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde".
--> The writer tells this in a short epilogue, but if like me you love doing some research on the web, in Wikipedia you will find the story of his life and how he was discovered and captured and where his house and the pubs dedicated to him are located.
__ MYSTERY PART __ the mystery could have been compelling, because from a simple theft we move not only to murder but to the theme of abuse of women (unfortunately a problem that is still current). However, the writer is still inexperienced and has not been able to put enough twists and clues to create enough suspense for the reader. I have read cozy mysteries that were certainly more engaging despite being light reads.
__ IN CONCLUSION all in all it was pleasant and if there weren't such a large number of books to read and so little time, I would read some other books in the series, but it won't happen anytime soon because I give priority to books that I think will give me stronger emotions.
( NOTE : being this book available in English language only, I'm writing my review in English, but it's not my mother tongue, so please be lenient with my text :-) thanks )
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