The Body in Seven Dials by H.L. MarsayMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
Set at the outbreak of WW1, this novel is inspired by the remarkable life of Dorothy Peto, the Metropolitan Police’s first female superintendent.
Dorothy wants to be a writer and has moved to London to live with her brother Raymond. She is active in the women's rights movement, although she doesn't ascribe to the violent protests of Mrs Pankhurst's group.
When war breaks out many men join the army, this combined with the influx of Belgian refugees, means that the police force is woefully under-resourced so Dorothy and a group of similar minded women offer to create a volunteer force to assist the police. They have no powers to arrest people but can advise refugees on where to get assistance, or encourage prostitutes to move elsewhere etc.
Then Dorothy learns that an actress starring in a West End show has died, mere hours after Dorothy herself saw her backstage. Dorothy finds it hard to believe that a young woman who seemed so happy and vivacious when she signed Dorothy's programme could have committed suicide shortly afterwards.
During a Zeppelin raid on the capital Dorothy finds a little Belgian girl apparently begging on the streets, when she takes her back to her home in Seven Dials, where they find the little girl's mother's body. The circumstances of her death bear a striking similarity to those of the actress and Dorothy is convinced that they are linked, but the police seem to be focusing on Dorothy's brother as a suspect.
I have read one of this author's contemporary romances so this was a different genre for me. While I enjoyed it, I did find some of the logic to be a bit convoluted, and surely there shouldn't what felt like five different suspects.
Overall, historically interesting, and an easy read but I'm ambivalent about reading any more in the series.
I received an ARC from the publisher Tule for an honest review.
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