cover image Airs and Graces: 
A Charles Patterson Mystery

Airs and Graces: A Charles Patterson Mystery

Roz Southey. Severn/Crème de la Crime, $28.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-78029-017-1

Set in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1737, Southey’s sixth Charles Patterson mystery (after 2011’s The Ladder Dancer) offers a chilling mix of murder and the paranormal. During a January blizzard, musician sleuth Charles Patterson and his well-born wife, who are engaged in a snowball fight, spot a woman descending a rope from a bridge to the mudflats below. Moments later, the couple hear a child screaming from the upholsterer’s shop on the bridge. At the shop, they find a six- or seven-year-old girl the only survivor of a slaughter that includes the upholsterer and most of his family. An adult sister recently returned from London, Alice Gregson, fits the description of the fleeing woman. A series of hindrances stymies Charles’s subsequent investigation, including Alice’s disappearance in the snowbound town—perhaps into the spirit world Charles and only a few others can access. Historical fans will find a lot to like. Agent: Juliet Burton, Juliet Burton Literary Agency. (Apr.)