Bow Street Society: The Case of the Curious Client

At the start of Campbell’s intriguing late-Victorian mystery featuring the Bow Street Society, invalid Thaddeus Dorsey phones the London society to report a missing friend. When the angry voice of a second person interrupts the call, Dorsey hangs up after cryptically commenting, “I’m not unsafe.” Three society operatives, including artist Georgina Dexter, go over to Dorsey’s house, where they find their prospective client—who turns out to be severely visually impaired—tied to a bed, supposedly to keep him safe at night. Dorsey is alarmed that his friend Palmer, who used to visit him regularly at night when his attendant was out, has stopped doing so. After Dexter produces a clay bust that Dorsey is able to mold into an image of Palmer, the detectives spread out to track the man down. Their inquiry turns more serious when a body with its throat slit is discovered in the Dorsey home. While the plot is more memorable than the characters, fans of period mysteries will look forward to the society’s next case. (BookLife)

Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly stated this title was the third book in a series.