Death on the Rocks: A John Rawlings Mystery

Horatio Huxtable, a London merchant, turns for help to apothecary John Rawlings, known for his ability to solve problems for John Fielding and the Bow Street Runners, in Lake’s workmanlike 15th mystery set in 18th-century England (after 2011’s Death at the Wedding Feast). Huxtable’s stepson, Augustus Bagot, left home at 14, returning only years later after word of his mother’s death and his resulting inheritance reached him. But the merchant believes that the morbidly obese man presenting himself as Bagot is an imposter, and hopes the druggist will prove him right. Rawlings, accompanied by his father, travels to Bristol for answers. Before his inquiries get too far along, someone greases the top steps of a dangerous staircase, leading to a fatal slip. While the plotting isn’t up to the standards of other series set in this period, such as Bruce Alexander’s books with Fielding himself as the lead, even first-timers will find themselves invested in the developments that change Rawlings’s future. (Apr.)