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Destroying Angel
A Rose McQuinn Mystery, Book V

by Alanna Knight



      After establishing herself as a lady detective and attracting the attentions of the handsome Jack Macmerry, Rose McQuinn’s luck seemed to be on the up.  But fiancé Jack has decided that he doesn’t want to marry her, and as if that isn’t bad enough, her treasured deerhound Thane’s true owner has been found.  It seems that he truly belongs to a wealthy Northumberland landowner called Hubert Staines, whose dying daughter wants her beloved pet back.  So Rose travels down to the Staines home to do her good deed, only to discover that nothing is quite what it seems.

It does seem that gothic novels are alive and well even in the new Millennium, and as usual Ms Knight’s work is highly enjoyable for many reasons.  Rose makes for a sensible and interesting protagonist, a world away from the type of heroines normally associated with this type of fiction.  Ms Knight knows how to pace her work, which is laced with plenty of surprises and a teasing plot as well as the usual excellent sense of location.  As this is a Victorian novel, Rose’s voice seemed suitable for the period, as did the over-sentimentality of the suspected spectral dog Thane.  19th century readers would have loved this Lassie of the 1890s as he tirelessly performs good deeds, but I can’t say that I do!  It is perhaps a true sign of how good these books are that I eagerly read them, dog and all.

An Orkney Murder #3
Ghost Walk #4
Destroying Walk #5
Murder Lies Waiting #9

The Book

Allison & Busby
26 September 2008
Paperback
0749079371 / 9780749079376
Historical Mystery / 1892 Northumberland, England
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The Reviewer

Rachel A Hyde
Reviewed 2008
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